04/08/2018

I am delighted to work with people who are passionate about their business including foodprenerus, chefs, cookbook authors, media companies and caterers.

As with Diva Marketing, the focus is to help grow the business through digital strategies... creating marketing road maps and supporting execution. Of course, at the core of all initiatives are ensuring brand value and end result accountability.

Diva Foodies is proud to host the popular Tweet Chat#FoodTVChat. It's the only Twitter chat bringing TV Chefs Contestants and audience/fans together in a quick paced digital conversation.

10/31/2017

My pal Alex Brown is a digital pioneer. He was one of the first to teach social media in a higher education setting when social media was called blogs and message boards. However, his heart belongs to the equestrian world. Alex has written several books on fiction works. Recently he wrote his first non fiction book which takes place the world of racing off course (smile).

Writing a novel seems a little daunting to me. How do you bring characters to life and create a world that people want to get lost in with you? Alex kindly agreed to tell what's it like to write a novel? And what's it like to promote a non fiction book in the digital world? Enjoy!

About Alex Brown By Alex Brown: I have had a career in horse racing, as well as one in academia. Some of my time now, I dedicate to writing.

Diva Marketing: For those who may not know you, your passion has been long centered in the equestrian world. Please tell us a bit of your back-story. Who inspired your love of horses and riding and why?

Alex Brown, Missionville: I rode ponies as a kid, so I have always been involved with horses. I spent nearly 28 years in the United States; for a lot of that time, I worked in the horse racing industry. My role would generally be galloping horses in the mornings, racehorses that are getting ready for their races. I really enjoyed it.

Diva Marketing: This is not the first book you’ve authored. You also wrote the beautiful book Greatness and Goodness: Barbaro And His Legacy. However, I believe Missionville is your first fiction book. Why did you want to go down the fiction road?

Alex Brown, Missionville: I thought it would be an interesting challenge. All my writing, prior to Missionville, has been non-fiction, including the Barbaro book, as you mentioned; as well as covering horse racing for media, including the Cecil Whig and New York Times. I took a creative writing course at a local college, to learn the mechanics of writing fiction. I also joined a writers group, to learn more, and share ideas. The prospect of creating my own world, Missionville, and all the characters that inhabit that world, fascinated me. Finally, I wanted to use fiction to continue to highlight horse welfare issues that I have tried to champion over the past few years.

Diva Marketing: In Missionville you take the reader into the world of horse race through the experiences of several characters including the protagonist, a likeable chap named Pete. Of course I have to ask, how much of Alex found his way into the character of Pete?

Alex Brown, Missionville: Some. Mostly his character arc. I spent a lot of time in horse racing, only worried about horses that were immediately in my care, and not concerned with what happened when I no longer had anything to do with them. The Barbaro episode brought many things to light for me, and set me on a different path. At the beginning of the story, Pete appears to be pretty oblivious to what happens to horses after he and his owner, Ray, lose them through the claiming system. That changes.

From time to time, over the years, I’ve had one or two horses in my direct care, so I understand the training of a small stable. That helped inform Pete’s character. I would say there are a few friends of mine who might see a little of themselves in Pete, if they read the book.

Diva Marketing: Was it a challenge to write for several audiences -- those who understand the world of horse racing and others who may be “Kentucky Derby” viewers? How did you make the book interesting to both groups?

Alex Brown, Missionville: Yes! And both audiences are super important, if the book is going to be a success. The most fundamental thing I did was create a resource section, at the end of the book. For those less familiar with the jargon of horse racing, the workings of the backside, the resource section should help open the book up.

That said, I didn’t want to bog the reader down, through the story, with unnecessary explanation, but some things did need explaining. I hope I got the balance right. One review on Amazon UK, by a lady who knows horses, but not horse racing in America, was very positive about the accessibility of the book.

Diva Marketing: From a review on Amazon – “It's hard-hitting, controversial, and makes one think.” Without giving away too much away, why is Missionville hard-hitting, controversial and makes one thing?

Alex Brown, Missionville: The book takes a hard look at the flow of horses from the racetracks to the slaughter houses. Nothing gory, but this is something that does happen, and I take it on.

Missionville is the fictional racetrack; Owenscreek is the fictional kill auction. I won’t go into detail, but I’m hoping the racing industry embraces the book, but it might get dismissed. It’s hard to write about this stuff, while also wanting to write a book that people will want to read, that’s the biggest challenge. Early feedback has been pretty positive, so I’m very excited about that.

Diva Marketing: In addition to your talent in the riding ring, you also were a pioneer in digital and social media marketing. Let’s talk about how you’re promoting Missionville. What digital and social channels are you using and which works best?

Alex Brown, Missionville: Amazon is obviously my biggest channel for sales. Book shops can order it, via Ingram, but Amazon is where most of the sales will likely come from. The key with Amazon, I think, is to have the book appear on the right lists (i.e. horse racing in this case) and try to sustain sales enough to make sure the book appears on those lists in the top 20, or at least in the top 100, for a good period of time.

I am fortunate to have a large network on Facebook (5k friends) and have set up a Facebook page for Missionville. I have a decent following on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Whenever I get a review on Amazon, I’ll post the review to all these social channels. Sometimes I’ll post a copy of the review, with an image, sometimes I’ll post the copy of the review with a direct link back to Amazon. Trying to experiment with which method works best. I try to post about the book, in the various channels, about once a day, during this early stage of the launch (it has now been out for nearly a month).

But here is where things are tricky. Facebook seems to have a sixth sense, in terms of when it knows you are marketing something. Facebook wants you to advertise, which I understand. So my feed is clearly less visible to my friends on Facebook, than it was prior to the book launch (I think anyway).

The number of followers that see the updates on the book’s Facebook page has dropped off significantly since the book started selling. Prior to sales, I used the book’s Facebook page as a means to build audience for the book, and get feedback on cover designs and so forth. (I do love the book cover!) The engaged audience was larger then.

Anyway, my plan has been, and remains, to start advertising on Facebook, as we get closer to the holiday season. While I have not explored the platform for advertising too much yet, I’m assuming I can really target to my audience. I didn’t want to begin the advertising campaign too soon, and I wanted to make sure there were sales and feedback on the book, before I started advertising, hence the timing of the launch of the book. It’s all a delicate balance, but in this age of instant feedback and data, it’s also very interesting.

Diva Marketing: What challenges are you facing in using digital to get the word out for Missionville that you might not have for Greatness and Goodness: Barbaro And His Legacy?

Alex Brown, Missionville: Back to Facebook, It is more challenging to use that channel for promotion, without buying their advertising. I was promoting my Barbaro book in 2011, things were a little easier then I think. It’s also more challenging promoting something without a clear definition.

With the Barbaro book, people pretty much knew what they were getting; a biography on a horse they loved, or at least had heard of. With Missionville, driving primary demand is much more of a challenge. And frankly, writing fiction, you are competing with the very best, for your audience. I’ll never profess to be a great writer, but I hope the writing is good enough to move people through the story.

Diva Marketing: How important are the review sites like amazon.com?

Alex Brown, Missionville: Amazon reviews are critical I think, and it’s why I wanted to get reviews before the holiday season, and before I started paying to promote the book. I was very nervous, before the first reviews started coming in.

As I write this, I have 13 5 star reviews for the book: seven on amazon.com

It’s a shame that Amazon doesn’t combine all the reviews to one list, nevertheless, I am very happy with the early reviews.

The reviews do two things: they obviously make the book look good on Amazon, and possibly help with the Amazon algorithm when people search for topics, but also they give me content to push out to my social channels, as explained above.

Diva Marketing: You’ve used video in the past to promote projects. Any plans for video for Missionville –why or why not?

Alex Brown, Missionville: I might. I haven’t really thought about how to use video for Missionville yet, but it’s another channel, and another piece of content I can then push out to the other channels. Maybe as we get closer to the holidays I’ll do some kind of q and a, over video. Have people ask questions on Facebook, then answer the questions via video. I know video works on social, so I should be doing something.

Diva Marketing: You are a master at building an online community. How does that base help in getting the word out?

Alex Brown, Missionville: It’s just so important. I am lucky to have a decent sized set of networks, across different channels. I would not have embarked on the Missionville project, otherwise.

Diva Marketing: Please share your top 2 or 3 tips on how to use digital and social media to promote a new book.

Alex Brown, Missionville :

Be persistent, so I try to get content out there on a daily basis.

Keep experimenting, so I try to figure out if links, photos, links and photos, works best, in terms of gaining numbers of views, comments, shares and so forth.

Tailor your content to each channel. Don’t post the same content from Facebook to Twitter, it’s lazy and less effective.

Don’t get political, you’ll lose some of your audience.

Diva Marketing: As is our tradition at Diva Marketing, we’re tossing the virtual mic to you. Wrap it any way you’d like Alex!

Alex Brown, Missionville: Thank you so much for continuing to support my work. You have been so helpful over the years!!

02/17/2017

In the competitive world of grocery stores most people living in urban areas have many choices. Organic foods, once a competitive advantage, are now available in more than "specialty" grocery stores.

The question many in the grocery industry struggles with is... "What's a company to do to cut through the clutter and entice shoppers to "please choose me?" In metro Atlanta, where I call home, a relatively new player to area’s grocery store world, is doing things a little differently to gain community awareness and acceptance.

Sproutsispositioned as “… a healthy grocery store offering fresh, natural and organic foods at great prices…” Its management seems to understand; along with healthy food that supports its positioning, building relationships with its customers might be the key that unlocks a competitive advantage.

The community-based tactics Sprouts is putting into play build on each other. The first is an on-going series of demos and tastings.

Integrated into these fun and informative demos Sprouts is tapping into local food influencers. Recently members of the Atlanta Food Bloggers’ Society (I am a member of the society through my Food Site Diva Foodies) were invited to attend a Game Day Cooking Demo. The focus was on how to prepare healthy snack foods to nosh on while watching the Super Bowl Game.

Instead of bringing in a chef to conduct the demo, Sprouts made an interesting decision to have a licensed nutritionist, Marisa Moore, facilitate. The choice of a nutritionist supported and added credibility to the brand positioning.

Joining me at the demo were two other prominent food bloggers. Although the demo was free and open to the general public, Sprouts took care to make their staff and Marisa, the nutritionist, available to us. In addition we were given a gift card honorarium to create social content about the event.

All in all an interesting and well done influencer experience.

If you enjoy food blogs and sites about the culinary world please join me on Diva Foodies where you'll find a slightly different approach to my experience (and a black bean brownie recipe!), interviews with TV Chefs, cookbook authors, and much more. Follow me on Twitter at @DivaFoodies.

The invitation to attend this free food demo at Sprouts in the Morningside neighborhood of Atlanta was part of a blogger influencer program affiliated with the Atlanta Food Bloggers’ Society. I was given an honorarium for social media content creation and promotion. All opinions are those of the author.

01/31/2017

How to get the word out about your company and products is a one of the biggest challenges facing many small business owners.

As we often discuss on Diva Marketing, the digital world provides a multitude of of opportunities from blogs to social networks to online advertising. For good measure, let's throw in eMail and websites.

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting two guys in Atlanta who have a little different approach on how to promote your business. Lee Kanter and Stone Payton are telling the stories of local metro businesses through a digital radio program --Business RadioX. There are usually several guests, discussing diverse topics, on each show. In additon to being interview by Lee and Stone, who do the show in tandem, the hosts take great pleasure in initiating networking among their guests.

About Lee Kantor from the perspective of Lee Kantor -I think that having a degree in Advertising from a school of journalism gave me a unique perspecitve to disrupt the media. And as a social entrepreneur, I founded Business RadioX out of my frustration with traditional media's anti-business bias. Some media leans left, some media leans right, we lean business.

We help companies of all sizes get the word out about the good work they are doing for their profession and their community.

About Stone Payton from the perspective of Stone Payton - Just a guy who "hit the lottery" when I stumbled on to Business RadioX ® and met Lee Kantor. In the beginning, as a guest -- and later as a client,

I found this platform to be ideal for building relationships and creating original content -- which of course, helped me serve my market and grow my business.

Now, as Managing Partner I get to help all kinds of businesses share their story and promote their work -- and now my sole focus is expanding the Network so we can do it all on a much larger scale.

Diva Marketing: Let’s kick this off with a media question. In this age of digital video why produce a ‘radio’ show?

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: I think radio or audio interviews are a more effective way to capture authentic, deeper conversations. While some people are comfortable being videotaped, we have found that a lot of people get self-conscious and in their own head with a camera in their face. Video interviews tend to be superficial and sound bitey.

At Business RadioX, the way we conduct in studio interviews is very intimate and comfortable. Within a few minutes, everyone relaxes, opens up and shares their story. Since we are long form the business person’s passion for what and more importantly why they are doing what they do comes out.

Diva Marketing: Lee, what does Stone bring to this party that you do not?

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: Stone has taken a lot of the business functions that I am not good at off my plate. He is great at selling and articulating the Business RadioX mission and value proposition to prospective partners and sponsors. His ability to see the client's ultimate objective then reverse engineer an elegant solution that helps them achieve their goals has been critical to our success.

Diva Marketing: Same question for you Stone. What does Lee bring to the Business RadioX® that you do not?

Stone Payton, Business RadioX®: Well, Lee founded the company, developed the original idea, and refined the concept long before I became involved. He had a great lifestyle business going -- helping people and earning a comfortable six figure living working 2 or 3 half days a week when I met him . . . And then, I took him away from all that (smile).

We're still a small company, so Lee wears a lot of hats like we all do . . . but I think the two most valuable contributions he makes on a consistent basis are Vision and Empathy. I don't know how to explain it, but I swear the man can see "around the corners and behind the doors." This gives us the ability to consistently ensure we're meeting needs and solving problems for our customers -- sometimes, needs and problems they don't even realize they have yet.

He's remarkably adept at Empowering Others as well. Candidly, that's a major hole in my swing personally -- letting go, delegating . . . and equipping others to get the job done. I'm still working on that one.

Diva Marketing: When I was a guest on Business RadioX ® I found your questions to be thoughtful and well… smart. Your guests come from diverse backgrounds. What prep do you usually do for each guest/show?

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: I try to be an active listener and really be in the moment with our guests. I want to understand what they do and more importantly why they do it. I am not afraid to ask "dumb" questions, because I'm trying to educate our listeners no matter what stage of business they are in.

We like to joke that both Stone and I are both curious and ignorant about so many things that those equalities help us do pretty effective interviews.

Stone Payton, Business RadioX®: Almost none in most cases -- I want the conversation to be fresh and authentic, so I'm going to be asking the same questions our listeners would be asking. My prep is in the inviting. I reach out to people I find interesting and want to learn more about -- always searching for compelling stories that should be told. And I know in most cases -- if we don't share them, they'll go untold.

Sharing positive business stories simply does not fit the Big Media economic model. Unless there's a scandal, fire, or crime to report, most businesses in your community and mine are not going to be invited to tell their story.

Diva Marketing: In terms of how a guest comes across on-air, what makes a good guest for a radio show?

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: A good guest is someone who is passionate about what they are doing and is willing to share the good, the bad and the ugly about what they do and how they got to where they are at.

The best guests talk from the heart not from notes or by inelegantly forcing in memorized talking points.

Stone Payton, Business RadioX®: Substance . . . If you're the "real thing" -- actually out there providing genuine value to the marketplace, that will come shining through in a Business RadioX ® interview.

Diva Marketing: What is the value for a guest in taking the time from their busy schedules to come into the studio and be part of Business RadioX

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: I think there is a lot of value for the guest. 1- They are given a business centric platform to get the word out about what they are doing in their business 2- They get a long form interview, which means they can talk in normal sentences not in sound bites. They can share real stories not talking points. 3- We are a pro-business earned media network that will not humiliate or ambush our guests, we are there to support and celebrate them.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®: If someone I invited were to really ask this, I'd simply ignore thequestion or politely uninvite them and move on. They probably shouldn't be a guest on our network. Their value system is not quite aligned with ours -- too transactional (vs. relationship and service oriented), and they wouldn't leverage their appearance properly anyway. But I understand why you might ask the question in an interview like this -- so here's just some of what I've observed . . .

First and foremost, it's an opportunity to serve. If we've invited you to be featured on a Business RadioX ® show, you have knowledge and experience that would be tremendously valuable to other execs and entrepreneurs.

2.Participating in an authentic conversation like the ones we facilitate -- a conversation solely focused on you and your work -- helps you crystallize your own thinking. (You're doing the same thing for me right now.)

3.In most episodes, you'll meet other bright, passionate people with compelling stories. You'll almost certainly learn something -- and in many cases, we've seen enduring relationships evolve from people who have first met in our studios.

4.In the space of 45 minutes of less, you'll capture a great deal of thought leadership-- original content that can be re-purposed in a variety of ways to help you serve your market and grow your business.

Diva Marketing: As some one in the media once told me, without an audience there is no business. What does your listening audience get from the shows? Or the biz question, “What’s in it for me?”

Lee Kantor, Business RadioX®: Business RadioX listeners get a front row seat to stories of real life business people battling every day to make it. We tell real stories, right from the horse’s mouth. We aren’t theorizing about business, we are going deep and immersing ourselves in a business person’s everyday world. If you need to know what is happening in the business world in your community you would be well served to listen to the stories we tell on Business RadioX in your market because they aren’t being told anywhere else.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®: Original thought leadership and practical ideas from people who are actually in the trenches getting it done.

Your business model is interesting, different and if I may say so – brilliant in the way you help your guests network with each other. Please tell our community a little about the model and how you developed it.

Lee Kantor Business RadioX®:Our mission is to amplify the stories of business in every local market that we serve. We think it is critically important to support and celebrate the small to mid-sized business people in every community. We believe that every community needs a media outlet that will give them a chance to tell their story and amplify their message.

Our business model serves each constituent in business.

Listeners can access all our interviews for free. If they resonate with what we are doing in their community they can support our mission by nominating guests with interesting business stories and if they want to financially help us tell more stories they can become a member of the Business RadioX community at brxmember.com

Guests can support us by coming on a show and sharing their story. We are earned media and guests never pay to be a guest. Guests can also support us by becoming a member.

Business people who philosophically believe in our mission and agree with us that it is important to have a media outlet in their market that supports business financially support us by becoming sponsors. Businesses can sponsor a series, a show or even a studio. We create custom sponsorships with a handful of clients in each market we serve that helps them elegantly meet the hard to reach people they need to grow their business as well as show the community that they want to help get the word out about the good work that is being done in their market.

In each market we serve we find one or more entrepreneurs that wants to use our platform to capture business stories. This person can be a consultant who want to leverage our brand to just serve the industry they work in or they can be a business person looking for a more meaningful second act to their career.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®: Yeah -- what he said. Again, I can't take any credit for the core business model . . . I just jumped on Lee's coat tails -- and I ain't lettin' go! I am thoroughly enjoying helping to refine the business model for expansion and scale though . . . That's a great deal of fun -- bringing this platform to other markets.

Diva Marketing: There are two sides to the mic. What skills and talents should a host have to be successful?

Lee Kantor Business RadioX®: I think a level of humbleness is needed, which I think is lacking among most interviewers. I think a lot of interviewers want to be the star, so they monopolize the time, or wax elegantly about how smart they are too often. We encourage our hosts to make the guest the star. Listen well, ask clear questions, one at a time. Dig deeper with follow-up questions when the opportunity presents itself. Ask more why questions.

Business acumen can be helpful -- but some of our best questions -- and resulting conversations -- have come from students with little or no practical business experience. I don't know the first thing about aerodynamics -- but in spite of that, maybe even because of that -- I'm confident I could facilitate a very powerful and productive interview with the nation's leading authority in that field . . . And so can you or any of your readers -- if they have the right mindset.

Diva Marketing: What role does social media play in your communication plan?

Lee Kantor Business RadioX®: Social media plays an important role in distributing the content we create. We use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to share the stories we collect.

In 2017 we are going to explore using Instagram to share some of the photos we capture in studio and use our email newsletter in a more strategic fashion. We may even play with YouTube by taking some clips of audio we capture and using them as a soundtrack for some photos we capture in studio and making a video. We also sometimes use social media beofre a show to ask our community for some questions they want answered from upcoming guests.

Diva Marketing: Which social media channel is most effective for you and why?

Lee Kantor,Business RadioX®: We lean on Linkedin. We are business people talking to business people so Linkedin is a logical channel to communicate with our community and distribute our content.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®: Lee's absolutely right if you're going by today's definition of Social Media -- but my answer is "Lunch" . . . or dinner, or the boardroom, or the golf course, or the telephone -- anywhere Execs and Entrepreneurs are actually engaging one another and exchanging ideas to serve their market and grow their business.

Diva Marketing: RadioX ® has been around for a while and in that time I suspect you’ve interviewed thousands of small business owners. How has the small business/entrepreneurship world changed in terms of product/service innovation?

Lee Kantor,Business RadioX®: I think that as technology has become faster, cheaper and more powerful we are in an interesting time.

It's hard to look at things from 40,000 feet when the ground is moving underneath your feet. When we started, smartphones weren't so smart. Now we need a mobile first strategy. When we started it was cumbersome to listen to our content live or even get the recording on your phone. Now I can watch everything from a movie to live NFL game on my phone.

Business owners have to stay focused, stay in their lane and use technology to work for them.

It is easy to get distracted and follow every shiny object that you hear about.

Diva Marketing: What trends do you see happening in marketing media for business owners on limited budgets?

Lee Kantor,Business RadioX®: I see a trend of forward thinking businesses supporting media that are authentic, long form and who creates meaningful relationships with their listeners. There is a wave of socially conscious businesses that have figured out that there is a lot better ROI with fewer (but more engaged) “hearts and minds” rather than with more (anonymous and superficial) “eyes and ears.”

I think the majority of traditional media outlets are desperate and are spiralling down the clickbait path. Sadly this strategy is making them less relevant in terms of influence. Because of the use of this click bait strategy their consumer can’t tell fake news from real news.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®:Limited budgetsare a product of limited revenue, limited thinking, or both. We can help change that -- and I'm delighted to say we provide substantial value at any financial budget from $0, to $129 /year, to $5k /month, and beyond.

As for trends . . . Access is higher, Quality is lower. Distribution is much higher, but tools for measuring haven't caught up. Most metrics in marketing media today are meaningless (impressions, viewership, coverage, clicks,) . . . It's like trying to measure fluid ounces on a bathroom scale . . . in an effort to find the best route to Boise. So we simply measure ROI.

Diva Marketing: As we enter 2017, what are your plans for Business RadioX®?

Lee Kantor,Business RadioX®: We want to tell 1 million business stories. And to help us do that we need to find socially conscious businesses that want to partner with us and help us put studios in markets around the United States. Together we can tell more stories and help more small and mid sized businesses get the word out about the great work they are doing for their profession and their communities.

Stone Payton,Business RadioX®: Increased Access For All . .

1.Expanding the network to other markets

2. More stories, more ways to access what you want, when you want it . . . and we're launching our BRX Member program so more people who resonate with our mission, enjoy serving their community, and appreciate authentic conversations with local business leaders can join our cause.

Diva Marketing: As is Diva Marketing’s tradition, we’re throwing the virtual mic back to you. Wrap it anyway you’d like!

Lee & Stone, Business RadioX®: If you know anyone with an interesting business story please send them our way. We want to interview them and help them get the word out! If you know any sponsors or entrepreneurs who resonate with our work please send them our way as well.

12/20/2016

During this tinsel time of year we often look to nonprofits to help families bridge the gap in providing items that will help make the holidays a little brighter. However, what often gets lost in the crowded NPO space are the smaller nonprofits whose work is critically important.

During December I open Diva Marketing Blog's virtual doors and invite smaller nonprofit organizations to tell their stories in their own special way. It my wish that you might find a small way to make a big impact.

Sometimes necessity + creativity leads to great ideas. That's how a special organization, Dotted Line Divas, began it's venture to help others by using coupons. Really!

Hi! My name is Tanorria Askew, and I am the Vice President of the Board for an amazing non-profit called Dotted Line Diva’s! Dotted Line Diva’s is an organization that strategically coupons in order to provide families in need with personal care items.

About Dotted Line Divas

Dotted Line Divas is so unique in that it started by a woman who is a family in need herself. Christina Huffinesstarted couponing in order to be able to provide items she was not able to get a food pantries and other assistance organizations. Things like laundry soap, body wash, razors, etc. which are things most of us take for granted. After spending one Christmas giving almost 400 families personal care items that she had stockpiled herself, Christina decided to form a non-profit called Dotted Line Divas.

Dotted Line Divas now partners with other non-profit organizations to help as many families as possible. Since our start in 2014, we’ve helped support over 2,000 families! Just under a year ago we were also able to open a Personal Care Pantry which allows families to come “shop” with dignity and respect for items that build confidence, keep a clean and healthy home, and inspire others. We typically help anywhere from 30-40 families each month in the pantry!

Our goal is to help families with basic personal care needs while inspiring them to eventually pay it forward. That’s why we also offer monthly coupon classes for our families to attend to learn how to coupon and save money for their own families. These classes are also open to the community so anyone can come and learn how to coupon. Our hope is those who attend the classes will be inspired enough to use the skills they learn to help support their own families but also give back to the communities in which they live.

How Social Media Plays A Role

Social media has been a platform that Dotted Line Divas uses to spread the word about events, volunteer opportunities, and coupon deals for those would like to partner and help with increasing inventory.

12/15/2016

I am excited to bring back Diva Marketing's Holiday For Small Nonprofits Series.

Even in this generous season of giving the small NPOs too often get lost among big campaigns of nonprofits with larger budgets. In between your shopping and baking and gift wrapping I ask that you take a moment to read a story or two of how people are helping people... one by one.

It's our hope that you might find a new NPO that touches your heart.

The Bags of Hope Project is a unique nonprofit that maybe the 'smallest' in our series but none the less the work it does is important and impactful. Bags of Hope Project is a very narrowly focused nonprofit that works strictly on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - supplying their agents who are working to rescue victims of sex trafficking, with items that they need to help victims feel more comfortable during the questioning process.

Our story teller is the founder of Bags of Hope Malenka Warner.

Malenka's story begins as a dedicated volunteer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. She is a certified presenter for the GBI’s Cyber Safety Initiative, part of the “Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” run by the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit. This important community initiative brings internet safety presentations to schools, neighborhood groups and other community organizations.

Through her work with these organizations Malenka saw a gap in the support system. Based in Atlanta, the Bags of Hope Project, collects and maintains an inventory of items for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Victims Assistance agents in Georgia, which are used to give immediate comfort to rescued sex trafficking victims.

Malenka's "day job" is Managing Director and Owner of Atlanta Daybook, flagship city for the Daybook Network. Daybook is utilized by nonprofit and for profit organizations to promote their organization news and events.

Bags of Hope Project

The Need or Gap In The System - This isn't a process that many of us have knowledge of, so allow me to give you just a bit of background information. When victims of sex trafficking are rescued by the FBI, they must go through a very specific process of questioning to assist the FBI in building a successful case against the individuals who were responsible for enslaving them. Young children - boys and girls; young women and young boys; young women with babies - These victims are rescued many times with only the clothes on their backs. And after this questioning period, they enter into the state system of care and support.

The Bags of Hope Project goal is to help these victims be more comfortable during the necessary interview process; to give them comfort and reassurance that they are safe and worthy; and to help create a very positive first impression for them of the law enforcement personnel who are working tirelessly to rescue those who are being abused.

For many folks who know me through my company, Daybook Network and Atlanta Daybook, they are sometimes surprised at my interest in this area. It's actually not that unusual, given my background. You see, my father was the former head probation officer of the Fulton County Juvenile Court, which worked to provide juvenile offenders with treatment, rehabilitation, and supervision.

The juvenile court also was involved with situations involving neglect, where kids were placed in healthier and safer environments. I grew up with an understanding of how many kids in our state are in dangerous situations. So when I was nominated to participate in the FBI's 8-week Citizen Academy program that gives business, religious, civic, and community leaders an inside look at the work of the FBI, I jumped at the opportunity.

As a 2003 graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy program, I got to learn a great deal more about the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and about the work they are doing in our community. And I have stayed involved with the work of the Citizens Academy Alumni program, by helping the Bureau with community outreach initiatives.

That experience also introduced me to the folks at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s (GBI) Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit. When the head of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force asked if I would be interested in becoming one of their community trainers, I again enthusiastically volunteered. Today, the GA ICAC Task Force gives presentations around the state to parents, community organizations, and of course schools. You can request a presentation with this online form.

Through my volunteer work with the FBI, and after meeting with the head of their Victim Assistance unit, I became aware of the need and opportunity to assist the FBI agents in creating the most positive first impression possible for these young victims. According to statistics from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, trafficking victims sometimes return to their trafficker, sometimes out of fear, or because of their uncertainty about their security. It is critical that these victims have the most positive experience possible during this initial questioning period.

The FBI agents are professional, patient and non-judgmental. Our goal is to provide them with items that will help them create the most positive bond of trust possible.

I formed Bags of Hope Project (a Georgia nonprofit 501c3 organization) when I realized the far-reaching possible affects of helping the FBI agents give these victims basic comfort items in these first critical hours after being rescued.

How You Can Help - Here are the items we are currently collecting: (our list changes per the needs of the Bureau, usually on a seasonal basis)

[When a victim is recovered, many times they are hungry. The FBI investigators are not allowed to buy the victim food with their own money or the Bureau's money, but the investigator can drive them to a fast-food restaurant, and using the drive-thru line get them food using the gift cards we provide to the agents. These cards will stay with the agents, so the suggested denominations for each card are $25 and up.]

Diapers (Newborn to 5 years)

Brand new small stuffed animals

Cases of bottled water

Sweatshirts/Sweatpants (Please email [email protected] for specific sizes currently needed. We have very limited storage facilities available so we collect clothing as needed by the Bureau.)

If you would like to help, please feel free to send me an email - [email protected] I'm happy to meet you and collect any items you would like to donate.

09/26/2016

Social media marketing is a digital bridge that humanizes the brand online with offline benefits.

However, before your brand can build that social media digital bridge you must first confront the fears that I call ~ the elephant in the room.

I've been working in the social media space for over 12-years. In terms of digital that has to be at least 4 lifetimes! During that time there's been a new generation of business managers and entrepreneurs who have 'grown-up' using social media for fun and personal use.

However, the leap in understanding social media as a business tool often remains a frightening mystery for many.

Recently I was chatting with a smart, young - aka a Millennium, woman who launched a food venture. She had a new, pretty website complete with eCommerce features. However there was not a social icon to be found.

Toby: Why?

Food Entrepreneur: It frightens me.

Toby: Why?

Food Entrepreneur: People are mean online. I'm working very hard to build a brand and I don't want people to hijack a social channel.

What I've come to realize, from working with thousands of people in my consulting and training roles, is --

social media education is both emotional and logical.

The lens of how social media marketing is perceived differs for each person and within each company culture. Addressing fears/concerns, or facing the elephant in the room, should be one of the first steps in creating consensus regarding developing a social media roadmap.

5 Common Media Fears: Trolls. Sales. Technology. Track. Time.

Sorry to say, there are no canned or simple answers. However, here are a few ideas to get you started in how to evaluate the elephant in the room.

Trolls. For some like my friend the food entrepreneur, fear of trolls that might sabotage your brand is at the top of the list.

Tips: Listen for negative reviews or trolls sabotaging your brand. Watch your channels. Set up Google Alerts or Talk Walker Alerts. Create a reputation management plan. Each situation must be reviewed and action taken based on its merits.

Sales. Other people might have a concern if their financial investment (note: social media marketing is never free) will produce direct sales results.

Technology. Call it technology or call it tools new platforms continuously emerge and the try and true e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest update and change terms at a drop of the hat. How do you keep current?!

Tips: Determine which channels you receive the most success from in terms of your goals (see Track below). Spend the majority of your time on these networks.

Identify a channel or two that is interesting to you to sandbox. Your focus is to learn and play. Perhaps you see a growth in your customers beginning to explore that platform like SnapChat. Or maybe the technology is a new feature of a platform you currently use like Facebook Live.

Track.What to track, how to track and how to make sense of the mountain of data is another valid concern.

Tips: This is should be an easy fix. Go back to your roadmap and review what you wrote that determines success. Return on Investment e.g. reach, awareness, amplification, relationships. Often less is more.

Time. Of course, the one on so many people's list is T-I-M-E. Even if you subcontract the execution there are reports to read, content decisions to make and results to evaluate.

Tips: Another tricky one. Of course it's dependent on your content direction and the number of social channels. Begin with developing a simple, topic driven content calendar. Lucky you if there are people who will support you in content development.

Keep in mind content can be text, video, photos, graphics. You can modify content to fit different channel but please don't take the lazy route of dumping the exact same words in each channel. Play to the strengths of the channel.

Build time for engagement, listening, analytic review. Blog posts take longer than a tweet. What's the sweet spot ~ perhaps 3-hours a week???

08/22/2016

Recently I was chatting with long time BBF, Paul Chaney, about the changes in social media from the days when we began in what was then called The Blogosphere. Paul wondered if search on Twitter or Instagram could be a good business tool.

He kindly offered to share his views and research on Diva Marketing. How could I say no to such a generous offer? Hope you enjoy Paul's post.

First, About Paul Chaney.

Paul is an online marketing consultant, editor, writer, and author with more than 20 years experience in the digital marketing space.

He’s written four books that cover the topics of business blogging, social media marketing, and social commerce, the most notable of which is entitled "The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media," published by John Wiley and Sons in 2009.

He is currently a Staff Writer for Small Business Trendsand also maintains a client-base of small to mid-size companies. Paul is a sought-after speaker on digital and marketing topics. Oh yes, and he's an accomplished musician! Connect with Paul Chaney on Twitter | LinkedIn

Twitter Search or Instagram Search: Which is Better for Business? - By Paul Chaney

One of the ways I've benefitted most from my career in social media is the people I have met along the way, not the least of which is Toby. We're joined at the hip personally and professionally and have been for the better part of 12 years.

Another good friend — someone familiar to both Toby and me — is Bill Flitter, founder and CEO of dlvr.it, a content distribution platform.

Bill pioneered RSS advertising years ago and, despite his boyish good looks (which belie his clean Midwestern upbringing), is a long-time veteran of the social media marketing wars. (I'm sure he would show you his scars if you ask; or possibly not.)

Twitter Search or Instagram Search? That Is the Question

The reason I mention Bill is, recently, I was milling about on the dlvr.it blog when I came across a post about Twitter search and then another about Instagram search.

I can't tell you the last time I thought about either of the two platforms, at least in a search-related context — particularly Instagram, which I use to post images taken with my smartphone from time to time.

I also wondered why Bill and company would devote entire posts to the respective topics. There must have been a reason. My interest was piqued.

With Twitter's waning popularity, compared to Instagram's rise in prominence, I began to wonder which platform would serve a business better, from a search standpoint. As it turns out, that was Bill's premise, too.

With his permission, I pulled some information from each post, to evaluate their respective features and benefits and draw some conclusions.

Twitter Search

First of all, Twitter "Connect" (which you see referenced in the dlvr.it post) no longer exists. It was an experiment that failed, apparently, replaced by "Notifications."

Regardless, the real benefit to Twitter search for business lies in its "Advanced" feature, which allows more refined search capabilities, such as multiple search filters and operators.

(Note: You have to be logged in to gain access to advanced search, and it only works with the desktop version.)

To use advanced search, begin by entering a keyword in the search field located in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Let’s use “small business” as our example.

Twitter then redirects you to the search returns page. Click the “More Options” link in the menu bar. That opens a sub-menu. Look to the bottom and click “Advanced Search.”

As the following screenshot from the dlvr.it blog post illustrates, you can search by various parameters: words, people, places, dates, and even sentiment. Options exist under each category, to let you dig even deeper.

From the example, a pizza shop owner in San Jose, California can find Twitter users within a ten-mile radius who have pizza on the brain at a given moment.

This discovery enables the owner to join in the conversation, perhaps offering a time-sensitive discount tied to a hashtag. And that's only one of the many possibilities advanced search offers from a marketing perspective.

Others include:

Find mentions of your brand;

Surface all tweets from an event you attended;

Gather customer testimonials;

Monitor sentiment about a competitor's brand (or yours);

Find influencers or brand ambassadors;

Thank customers for doing business with you.

Truly, the list is as endless as your ability to come up with crafty ways to mine the treasure trove of data.

For more inspiration and ways to use advanced search, visit Twitter's support page on the topic.

Instagram Search

Where Twitter's advanced search gives users the ability to refine their efforts, Instagram restricts the search options on its app to Top, People, Tags, and Places.

Of the four, Tags is likely the best option because Instagram bases its platform on them. (Post an image or video without using a hashtag? Perish the thought!)

Perhaps the best way to use Instagram search is not to use it at all but rely on third-party tools such as Picodash, or my favorite, Iconosquare. Both are premium services but offer more advanced search capabilities than Instagram itself.

Despite the limited search functions, you can make a business case for Instagram.

You can use it to:

Find people to follow;

Find hashtags related to your business or industry;

Search by place for people to follow;

Engage with nearby customers;

Get involved in trending conversations.

In comparing the two platforms, Twitter provides a superior search experience in my view due to the many variables and operators. Instagram, however, offers a more serendipitous journey of discovery.

In either case, there's business value to be had — and that’s the main thing.

08/09/2016

Who remembers the Pets.com once famous icon? The world of the internet is one of here today and gone tomorrow.

Since Diva Marketing (Blog) launched in 2004, social media has gone through changes that have disrupted our digital experience. Long form text posts (blogs) have been joined by short form content that includes various forms of media from photos (Pinterest, Instagram) to video (Snapchat, Pericsope).

As the popularity for a new platform or feature becomes successful there is of course competition. In response to Twitter's Vine Video which began at 6 seconds -- Instagram offered a 15 second video option. Now Twitter is testing a 140 second video option for Vine. Back to Instagram which has released its own disappearing act a la Snapchat called Instagram Stories. Facebook Live Video competes with Pericsope.

I've mentioned only four platforms: Twitter/Vine, Instagram, Facebook, Periscope and Snapchat. If you're feeling overwhelmed, welcome to the club!

Over the course of the last 7 days I've been participating in Darren Rowse's #BloggerGroove Challenge. In addition to adding content to Diva Marketing and Diva Foodies (my relatively new food blog ~ check it out!) I've had the opportunity to read some great posts on a variety of topics.

Day #7 challenge was to write a link post. I am excited to introduce you (via the following links!) to a few talented social media/marketing bloggers who will shed some light on the Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and of course blogs.

Snapchat - Even with Instagram in the game, don't expect Snapchat to exit the social media scene anytime soon. Brands have too much invest. Mel Kettle provides a Snapchat 101 in the post Snapchat for Beginners. Her how-to post takes you step-by-step in setting up your page. Mel details how to use, what is right now, the darling of social media.

Facebook - It's been around for what seems like forever and a day. The question is ~ are you using it to your best advantage as a business tactic? Sharon Luttrell'spost offers four tips that will help make your experience more productive and enjoyable. She looks at how to curate your feed, connecting with groups and even how to time manage and elimnate the negative.

Blogs - How could I write a blog post about social media tips without offering insights about blogging? No way. Let's jump over to Darren Rowse, ProBlogger, who has become the go-to-dude of blogging. I met Darren in the early days of the blogosphere. He is without a doubt one of the nicest and most generous people.

Darren's blog is a treasure chest of information about blogs, as well as social media. Warning! when you venture into ProBlogger be prepared to spend more than a few minutes. But you'll leave so much smarter.

08/07/2016

Max came into my life about 13 years ago. I wasn’t looking for him and the truth is I really didn’t want him. Nor did I think I needed him.

But some times life gives you unexpected, wonderful surprises.

Max turned out to be the best gift a client ever gave me. I just didn't know it at the time. When I first met Max he was a year old raggity rescue dog that my client Alf Nucifora insisted I take home “just to see.” Since no one says "no" to Alf, I took Max home for just a few days -- “just to see.”

That first night Max and I were invited to dinner at a friend’s where Max was of course the guest of honor. I asked seven year old Katie if I should keep the little pup. In the very serious way of a little girl who has been asked an important question by a grown-up, she nodded and said, “Yes. Now you won’t be alone.”

So I kept the funny, little, white Westie with the big brown eyes and black button nose who would bring laughter and joy into my life. The vet call Max the gentleist terrier she had ever met. Yes, I did fall in love with Max. But little did I know that Max was about to help me and change my life in more ways than I imagined.

In social media we talk a lot about “humanizing” content through personal experiences. Many people incorporate their kids and family. Some bloggers include their exciting travel experiences while others have a nack of inviting us into their day-to-day life.

For me that humanization was via Max. Max found his way into Diva Marketing posts. He was the catalyst to marketing and social media lessons from customer loyalty to experiments in video where Max became a bit of a YouTube Rock Star. Watch Best Friends Max The Dog and Tab The Cat!"I think everyone should have a best friend."

I had no idea to the extent readers of Diva Marketing were enjoying the Max posts and building a relationship with Max until I attended a BlogHer conference. A prominent blogger came running up to greet me and the first thing she asked about was Max. Not me. Not my blog. Not my experiences at the BlogHer event. I must admit I was thrown off and couldn’t fathom who she was talking about until I realized it as Max!

Max became sort of a social media mascot with a bit of a fan club. After reading so many social media books, Max even become social media savvy!

I think the authors I interviewed liked the photos of Max reading their reading their books more than my interviews with them! Author and social media expert Brian Solis asked for the photo of Max reading his book "Business As Usual" to drop on his Facebook page.

Max left my life last September. He was 14.5 years old. I didn’t know you could care so much about a little puppy. Needless to say I miss him every day. Please excuse the virtual tear drops.

“So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near-- Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry." It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . ." Yes, that is so," said the fox. But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince. Yes, that is so," said the fox. Then it has done you no good at all!" It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

This post was inspired from Darren Rowes, ProBlogger, #BloggingGroove Challenge to create a story post. Immediately I knew my story had to be about Max.

It's far too easy to get lost in the social media world where multiple paths intertwine and new shiny opportunties can take you into places that make no sense for your brand.

Let's put a business spin on it and call these paths "channels." As examples, in the digital/social media space channels would include: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, YouTube and throw in blogs. It's enough to make even the most experienced digital marketer dizzy.

Add to that each channel has its own quirks, algorithums, audience. Add to that C-H-A-N-G-E-S. Add to that you must determine what resources (people, time, money) you can dedicate to explore and master new channels and updates.

Example. Just this week Instagram, the popular photo sharing platform, released an a la SnapChat feature.Instagram Stories will disappear in 24-hours. Oh no another thing to learn how to use and how to market! Note: Article comparing Instagram and Snapchat that might give you some insights.

A couple of "IF - Then What " questions that can and should be used with any new social media channel or feature you're considering investing in. Don't fool yourself. Each and everytime you commit to a social channel it becomes an investment and (hopefully!) an asset for your brand. There is no free!

If your customers love Instagram then will they love Instagram Stories?

If your customers are on Snapchat then will they stay on that channel?

If your customers love both Snapchat and Instagram Stories then what is your content game plan?

If you've built assets for Snapchat then how much more development and maintenance will you dedicate?

If you think your customers will migrate to Instagram Stories then what's your game plan?

If you're not sure if your customers will migrate to Instagram Stories then what's your game plan?

No wonder people get lost in the social media forest!

3 additional suggestions that may lessen the stress and even help you enjoy the journey!

Know where you're going, call it -- Definesuccess for you.

Understand how you're going to get there, call it -- Create a roadmap.

Build in time and resources to understand new channels and features call it -- Explore new paths.

Your turn! How do you navigate the ever changing world of social media?

08/03/2016

Sometimes life gets in the way of life. And too often life gets in the way of writing blog posts. Sorry Diva Marketing Blog that I've neglected you.

Over the next week Diva Marketing will get a boost of posts thanks to a blogger challenge from Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. Darren has challenged those in the blogging community, whos might have lost their groove a bit, to write 7 posts in 7 days based on a series of blog styles that he'll suggest. The first style is a List Post.

Show tunes often find their way into social media presentations and training I conduct. Music can bring a burst of energy and more than not people begin tapping to the beat. I thought, it might be fun to build a list post about blogging based on the lyrics from the musical theatre. Click on the links to see videos of the songs.

Tip: Build community. Blogs offer the opportunity for other people to come along with on your adventures. Creating blogs posts are often a solo undertaking. However, through comments (and other interactions e.g. email, even offline) with people who drop by your blog you can 'see the world' with other travelers.

Two drifters, off to see the worldThere's such a lot of world to seeWe're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bendMy huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

Tip: Explore new ideas. As you build your blog you'll learn new things, be exposed to different ideas and meet interesting people many of whom will turn into "real" friendships. Your life will be the richer for the experience.

You simply won't believe how much

This book will change your life,This book will change your life,This book will change your life!

Tip: Be brave. Writing a blog or creating a podcast or video series is a brave undertaking. You're showing the world who you are through your writing style, thoughts, beliefs. Unlike a traditonal media column, even if your posts are business oriented, they mostly likely are not objective but represent your point of view. Some people will get you and some not so much. But that's okay.

Tip: Find your unique voice, niche and audience. Although the format of blogs has gone from text-orient to include photos blogs, podcasts, videos blogs changed the way we communicate and influence.

The blog was the start of a revolution and evolution on how we conduct business from sales to marketing to customer service to networking. The blog provided an entree for consumer journalism. The blog offered a way to for people to provide support for each other during difficult times.

In some form or shape blogs are here to stay... you can't stop the beat!

06/20/2016

For those who might not be food TV fans (a guilty pleasure of mine... take a look at Diva Foodies!) the winner of Food Network Star walks away with the biggest prize in food TV competiton ~ their own show on the Food Network.

Although Jay came in 2nd there was no doubt that he knew his way in the kitchen - indoors and outdoors, had great on-air presence and the fans loved him. Seems the Scripps Networks Interactive brass thought so too because they offered Jay an amazing opportunity to film a pilot for a sister network, Travel Channel.

What makes Jay especially relevant to the Diva Marketing community is his use of social media, aka Social TV, to promote his on-air opportunity on the Food Network and to leverage the social buzz to encourage Scripps Networks Interactive to pick up the Deep Fried America pilot.

In our Diva Marketing interview Jay generous shares his insights on Social TV, how to social media tips, some of his Food Network Star backstory and what it was like to be a dude blogger back in 2009! Enjoy Jay's Story.

Diva Marketing: Before we dive into how you’re using social media to support the Travel Channel pilot for your pilot of Deep Fried America, let’s set the stage for the peeps in our community who may not now But are soon to be (!) avid food TV viewers.

Not to be snarky, but there are so many food shows what makes Deep Fried America different and a must watch... in addition to the awesome host of course?

I’m going to be in the kitchen helping prepare (and eating of course) some amazing food, the caveat is that something in it has to be cooked in a deep fryer.

But we aren’t just looking for normal fried foods, we are talking to chefs who are being innovative and creating new dishes using the fryer.

Diva Marketing: The concept of Deep Fried America was taken from one of your Food Network Star show challenges. On Food Network Star you were positioned as the BBQ guy who developed his cooking chops (pun intentional) from tailgating parties at LSU. Fried foods seems like a step in another direction. Why a fried food focus? Say that fast 3 times: fried food focus/fried food focus/fried food focus!

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: The short answer is because the Network loved it and wanted it. They pushed Eddie in the BBQ direction and had me go toward the fried foods.

To be fair, while I did some grilling on Food Network Star, I never really got to do any barbecuing or even make a version of my BBQ sauce. I tried to one time, but our groceries got swapped and Eddie ended up making the BBQ sauce instead (4th of July challenge).

On the culinary improv episode of Food Network Star I fried calamari and gave a line to live audience including people from the Network that being from Louisiana, anything that flies, crawls, walks, slithers or swims, we fry it. From that point on I think the Network liked positioning me as a fried foods guy.

All that being said, I definitely have a special place in my heart and stomach for deep fried foods. Fried Chicken would be on the plate if I got to choose my last mean. A beignet in Louisiana is the perfect breakfast. At tailgate parties you can rest assured that we had an outdoor deep fryer right next to the grill!

Diva Marketing: Let’s talk blogs! I’ve been active in the blogosphere for over 12 years and have known some great food bloggers. Although most chefs are men, most food bloggers are women.

Do you think being a dude in that world gave Bite & Booze, launched in 2009, a competitive advantage? Why or why not?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: Without a doubt, 100%.

I think that being a large, bearded, masculine man with a love for barbecue and beer and whiskey and fried foods helped set me apart in the food blog world.

While I would be just another guy in the kitchen, taking the food blog route helped differentiate me. I can remember going to food blog conferen ces and the audience being 80-90% women and 10-20% men, and of those men, rarely was there another guys like me.

So I stood out in the world. And I was able to make a name for myself in that world. I got more and more opportunities to speak or to be on camera because of that. It definitely helped grow my blog and my brand.

Diva Marketing: Blogs are ever evolving and where you begin is not necessarily where you end up. How has the focus of Bite & Booze changed from back in the 2009 days?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: My blog, Bite & Booze, started as a personal food journal. I wrote a blog about what I had for lunch that day just so I could keep track of it. I was working an office job in downtown Baton Rouge and I wanted to something to cure me of my boredom.

I knew right away that I would want it to focus on supporting local restaurants and chefs, but I had no idea it would grow into what it has become.

I now speak of Bite & Booze not as a blog, but as a culinary media company. The website is still primarily a blog, but we also do a radio show (since 2011… in 2014 it won a Taste Award as the best food or drink based radio broadcast in the country), podcasts, video production, lots of social media stuff, events and more.

Diva Marketing: What tips on how to create compelling blog content that builds a loyal audience can you give us?

2. Also be personal. I find that people really like to feel like they get to know the blogger or the person behind the posts.

I don’t do a whole lot of recipe blogging, but has been part of my strategy. I support and celebrate the entire local food scene wherever I am from farmers to chefs and restaurants to people making cool products.

Diva Marketing: When doing research for our interview I came across an article from The Advocate. The headlined caught my attention.

How important will the social buzz be to impact the Travel Channel's decision to pick up your pilot and why?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: There are a couple ways to give Travel Channel good, immediate feedback on the show.

The first is for people to actually watch and set their DVRs to record the broadcast. The people in charge will see those ratings and get that data.

Secondly, social engagement absolutely helps. If @travelchannel is bombarded with tweets during the broadcast, they’ll know that not only are people watching, but they are also engaging. That’s powerful information for them to be able to take to advertisers who would purchase air time during my show.

At the end of the day this is a business, and producing great content is only good if it can be sold to sponsors and advertisers.

So the social buzz will let Travel Channel and potential advertisers know that there will be engaged viewers if they pick the show up for multiple seasons.

Diva Marketing: Let’s look at what is called “Social TV” on a more global basis.

Although Nielsen includes Twitter and now public Facebook into its TV ratings, in your opinion, to what extent do most producers/TV food media companies bring active social media into their digital marketing/out-reach mix?

(By active social media I mean, authentically engaging with the show’s fans versus broadcasting messages about the show or network.)

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: I feel like a lot of brands/people could truly be more active, especially when a show airs.

For pretty much every episode of Food Network Star last summer my team and I were live tweeting with fans during the episode. You never really see that from the big stars or the networks themselves. But I think they should.

The ability to now engage directly with the fans while a show is airing is pretty incredible.

Doing it live can be pretty tricky for sure, but I find that it is worth it!

Diva Marketing: I totally agree Jay! Now, a very basic but important question Jay – what benefits does social, done well, bring to the table?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: 4 Social Media Benefits

1. Social media gives everyone the opportunity to grow a brand in ways that weren’t possible before.

2. It gives fans a chance to get an inside glimpse, connect with a personality or follow their journey.

3. It also gives people like me a platform beyond the mass media outlets like TV or Radio.

4. So when it is done well, it is possible to build and retain a fan base outside of the traditional media outlets.

Diva Marketing: What are your thoughts about the benefits/importance of food TV personalities, chefs and contestants, live tweeting during their own shows?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: I do it. It makes sense. It helps build and audience and grow a brand. It can be tough to make time for it, but it is so worth it.

Diva Marketing: If you were King of a food media company how would you use social media aka Social TV?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America:

I’d make it part of my social media plan to use social to support on-air content and use on-air content to push people to social.

I’d make it to where a large part of my social strategy would be live-tweeting shows and posting on other platforms about new programming that is on the air. I’d make sure I had a team of people to actively engage with social rather than just be shouting into the void.

Diva Marketing: In addition to blogs, you’re active on multiple social media channels and have been leveraging them to support Deep Fried America. How do you play to the strengths of, let’s say the Big 3: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?

Instagram: Photos are key. Use pictures that resonate in one way or another.

Twitter: Inform and engage. Short format messaging. Connect with the audience by engaging in conversation.

Diva Marketing: Are you looking at insights/metrics and if so (1) which are most valuable to you and (2) what tools are you using to measure?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: Probably not as much as I should. I look at some Facebook data but that’s about it. I see engagement on Twitter and Instagram but I don’t go too deep into analytics.

Diva Marketing: Although text/image driven channels like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook can include links to videos they are a “still world.” How did you build your personal brand to authentically bring Jay Ducote to digital life, so to speak?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: Instagram is great for short little videos and Facebook is awesome for videos. I haven’t really done a whole lot yet with live streaming or other video content like that.

I kind of let my other content speak for itself. Though I do think that doing a little more live stuff or short videos would be a good idea.

Diva Marketing: Let’s go back to Social TV in food media. Who do you think in terms of a TV chef gets it and is doing it right?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: I think Alton Brown does a really good job with this social media. He is active and engaging.

Diva Marketing: What are a couple of tips you can pass along to your TV food chef pals in terms of how to do social right to build their personal brand and support their TV shows?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: 4 Social Media Tips

1. Just a little effort goes a long way.

2. Think about it in advance.

3. Use services to schedule content in advance rather than wait until the show is airing to even think about it.

4. Make it a priority to have social engagement as part of our overall brand strategy.

Diva Marketing: I love how Alton Brown uses cartoons that are shown against tweets when he live tweets Cutthroat Kitchen. We’re thinking optimistically, when Deep Fried America is on-air how will you use social media to support the show? Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: Well crap, I didn’t see this before I answered with Alton Brown earlier. Yes, I like that too.

I’m obviously going to do all the things that we’ve mentioned before. Beyond that, who knows! We’ll have to see what happens.

Diva Marketing: Guess great minds think a like, or something like that! Jay, how can we support you in ensuring Deep Fried America lives to be part of the Travel Channel’s lineup?

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: Watch it, set DVRs, ask your friends to do the same, live tweet the show and tag @travelchannel and @jayducote and #deepfriedamerica. Do the same thing on Facebook and Instagram.

Diva Marketing: As is the tradition of Diva Marketing interviews, the guest always has the last response. Wrap this anyway you’d like.

Jay Ducote, Deep Fried America: I’m certainly hoping that this turns into something much more than a pilot. It is a really exciting time and opportunity for me, but I won’t be pleased with the results unless the show gets picked up for a season. And then another. And then another.

I know I’ve got a lot of work to do ahead of me to continue to pursue my passion and chase my dreams. The TV side of everything I do is actually just a small part of my overall business model.

Bite & Booze, my culinary media company that started as a blog in 2009, and Hug Jay D, which is my product company that launched in 2014, are just the beginning.

Coming in 2017 will be my first restaurant, Gov’t Taco, a gourmet taco shop in Baton Rouge, La. And I’m sure there will be much more coming down the line as I continue to grow all of my brands and businesses.

Deep Fried America has a chance to be a huge part of that growth, so all the support and encouragement is definitely appreciated. Let’s make sure the Travel Channel knows that people out there want the show!

05/20/2016

Diva Marketing's 12th Birthday celebration continues with a very special post written by the first blogger I met IRW (in the real world) -- Paul Chaney!

One of the biggest lessons I've learned in 12 years of blogging and being active in digital communities is real relationship can and do happen online.

As in offline, digital friendships are built through common interests, kindness, support when times are shaky and celebrations when good things happen. If you are lucky you get to take online offline.

Paul and I have collaborated on several projects including developing and facilitating training programs for the American Marketing Association. I am honored and touched that Paul offered to write an original post to celebrate Diva Marketing's anniversary.

About Paul Chaney

Paul is an online marketing consultant, editor, writer, and author with more than 20 years experience in the digital marketing space. He’s written four books that cover the topics of business blogging, social media marketing, and social commerce, the most notable of which is entitled "The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media," published by John Wiley and Sons in 2009.

He is currently a Staff Writer for Small Business Trends and also maintains a client-base of small to mid-size companies. Paul is a sought-after speaker on digital and marketing topics. Oh yes, and an accomplished musician!

5 Ways to Build Online Authority Using Content Marketing

As a marketer, business owner, or entrepreneur, it's vital that you have a high degree of authority online so that when people search for you by name, they discover you (as opposed to someone else with your name).

But, it’s just as important that they find an impressive resume and portfolio to accompany your presence.

One of the best ways to establish your online authority is through the use of content marketing.

Here are five ways to go about it.

Erect a Digital Home Base

The first step toward building authority is to create a website — a place you can call home. It's where people will go to learn more about you and where you have the best opportunity to convert visitors to customers or clients.

Just as you would not construct your house on rented land, you wouldn’t want to build your online authority on digital real estate that you don't own, such as a social network. Having a presence on social media is necessary, but you can incur risk by staking your claim there, as opposed to a web property that’s all yours.

Many companies offer web design services, both of the do-it-yourself variety and those that will create the site for you. Your available time and budget will likely determine which route you take.

Claim Your Domain Name

If you aim to develop a personal brand, it's important to have a domain name that uses your name (i.e., YourName.com).

It's feasible that someone may have already claimed a domain with your name — in my case, the domain PaulChaney.com was taken years ago — but with the prevalence of new generic top level (gTLDs) and country-code domains such as .co, .us, .online, .services, and many more, there is no shortage of options from which to choose.

Pick the one that most closely resembles what you offer, or that best represents your area of expertise and go from there.

Create Content in the Form of a Blog

I believe strongly that well-written, keyword-optimized, topically-relevant, frequently-updated content will not only improve your standing on Google but will also establish your authority and credibility in the eyes of customers and prospects.

Writing in your "sweet spot," that zone where you can clearly demonstrate deep expertise, will doubtless cause your stature to rise. And one of the best ways to create such content is through a blog.

Someone said that the word "blog" is an acronym for "Better Listings On Google," and I firmly believe it. I've seen time and time again the benefits blogging can provide from a search engine optimization standpoint. It also helps to trademark you as a subject-matter expert in the mind of the consumer — the "go-to" person for your industry.

Most website content management systems incorporate a blog component. Many, such as WordPress (arguably the most popular CMS on the market), are built on blogs as the foundation of the platform.

Actively Participate in Social Media

You can't afford to bypass social media if you hope to grow a strong, authoritative brand. That doesn't mean you have to be everywhere, however, just on those networks where you are most likely to encounter your target market.

Let's examine the benefits of using the most popular networks:

If you provide products or services to other businesses, LinkedIn is where you want to be. It's a B2B network where conducting business is not frowned upon.

Facebook can be useful from the standpoint of letting people get to know you on a personal level. It's a social network in the truest sense and a place where you can "let your hair down" and be yourself. Just use good judgment when publishing content and making comments.

Let's not forget about Twitter. It's no longer considered a social network but a news and information network where you can share your content and content created by others.

YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest. Three other networks — YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest — aren't purely "social" networks either. Even though they have social aspects — the ability to comment, share, and like, for example — they are, in reality, more like "content" networks where you upload and archive videos and images.

A good rule of thumb for any content you create, whether written or visual, is to share it in as many places as possible. It's what the social media expert Chris Brogan calls your "media empire."

Given that these networks, however you classify them, are accessed by millions of people daily, you stand a much better chance of getting your message seen than by sequestering it on your website.

Think of it as a hub and spokes arrangement. You create content on your site, and then syndicate it to these networks, where users can find it more easily. Just be sure to include links back to your site, to drive traffic.

The main thing, where social networks are concerned, is to maintain an active presence. Create and curate content that you share in the form of tweets and status updates, and then interact with fans and followers via retweets, @mentions, responses to comments, and shares of content created by others.

The more active you are, the better your chances of impacting your audience with your message, and growing your reputation and authority right alongside.

Create Strong Website and Social Network Profiles

The "About" page is one of the first places people will go when visiting your website. The information it contains is an excellent way to show your audience who you are and why they should trust you. The same holds true for your social network profiles.

An essential part of the About page is your bio. The following tips, from dlvr.it, a social sharing platform, talk about how to write a bio that will help confirm you as a trust agent.

Decide on the tone you want to take when writing a bio.

Should your bio be serious, cool and professional, or should it have a personal flair where you, perhaps, mention your family? Also, should you inject humor or maintain a more serious tone?

Identify the audience you want to reach.

When preparing to write a bio, clearly identify the audience that you're attempting to influence. That step alone can help dictate your tone.

Inject some personality.

Even professional bios should include something that displays your personality. Here’s a short bio example that does just that:

Write in the first person.

Writing in the first person will make your bio more intimate and personal, but it is also a matter of preference and taste that depends on the tone you take and the audience that you’re addressing.

Conclusion

Building online authority using content marketing requires that you:

Have a home base in the form of a website;

Claim your domain name;

Share your expertise in a blog;

Participate actively in social media;

Have a bio that showcases your skill set and personality.

There are other steps you can take, such as setting up an email newsletter or writing a whitepaper, but those are "add-ons" that amplify your presence. Start with these five essentials to lay a sound basis for establishing your authority, and then build on it from there.

05/09/2016

To celebrate Diva Marketing's 12th Blog Birthday (!) ... an extra special interview on a topic that is sizzlin' hot -- Influencer Marketing with Danica Kombol founder of Everywhere Agency.

Seems you can't turn a corner in the digital world without bumping up against an influencer marketing post or campaign. Influencer marketing's roots began in the blogosphere programs of what we calledblogger relations.

However, with the onset of multiple social media channels e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope, Blogs, YouTube, Snapchat and technology that provides in-depth metrics, more brands are creating marketing promotion and content initiatives that include people who have significant followings and well -- influence.

Although the relationship aspect of today's influencer marketing campaigns are still critical, campaigns are more sophisticated than in the days of blogger relations.

Danica Kombol graciously agreed to give us the scoop on what makes a successful influencer marketer program from the point of view of the brand/agency and the influencer. In her usual style, Danica includes so much more. Enjoy!

About Danica Kombol: - I’m an entrepreneur, a mom, a pie baker and passionate about communications. I run the social media marketing firm, Everywhere Agency. We launched in 2009, focused primarily on social media and helping major brands get into the social media space. At that time, we were novel and unique, and big brands like CNN, Lexus, Lexis-Nexis and others needed our services.

This day and age, most brands get it and have built out robust social media teams of their own. Now a major focus of our agency is influencer marketing. We connect companies like Macy’s, Carter’s and other major consumer brands with influencers to help amplify and tell their story.

Diva Marketing: The term influencer marketing seems to be the hot buzz world. A Google search pulled up 20,800,000 links. Let’s start at Influencer Marketing 101. How do you define “influencer marketing?”

Danica Kombol: With influencer marketing, influencers become the vehicle to deliver your marketing message. However, it’s way more complex than that. The question really becomes, “How do you use influencers to deliver that message and what type of influencers do you seek out?”. At Everywhere Agency, we practice the ancient art of storytelling. By that, I mean finding influencers who can naturally and organically communicate a story about a product or brand.

Diva Marketing: Influencer Marketing is a service that your agency Everywhere Agency offers. How and why did you come to include it in your offerings?

Danica Kombol: In 2009, Everywhere Agency won the Guinness World Record for the most socially networked message in #BEATcancer. We launched that campaign at BlogWorld (now extinct) by getting influencers at the conference to all tweet out #BeatCancer, and eBay/PayPal agreed to give a penny per tweet for every mention. Those funds went to cancer serving charities.

We were trending on Twitter within the hour and remained that way for three days. At the time, we wanted to send the message that social media could be used for social good. In retrospect, I realize that was our first experience galvanizing influencers, and those who participated in those first hours of sending out tweets are friends to this day.

After that, brands kept coming to us looking for novel, non-advertising ways to promote their events or their products. We knew all these influencers, many who had a natural affinity for certain brands. We realized we could leverage influencers to share positive stories about brands the same way we got influencers to deliver a positive message in #BeatCancer.

Seven years ago, we were keeping all these influencers in Excel spreadsheets. As more and more of them worked on campaigns, they began to talk to one another and say things like, “I’m part of Everywhere.” We realized we had to move all these amazing folks out of spreadsheets and bring them into a community.

That’s when we launched Everywhere Society – which is a community of influencers who work with our agency and opt in for brand campaigns. And it really is a community. Our influencer network has grown from those early years of the geek bloggers who used to attend BlogWorld to a vast community of 2,500 influencers coast to coast who write about lifestyle, fashion, technology, food, DIY, parenting, and well, just about anything.

Diva Marketing: On a high level, why do brands invest in influencer marketing programs?

Danica Kombol:According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from other people – even if they don’t know them personally – over promotional content that comes directly from brands, and 74% of consumers identify word of mouth as a key factor of their purchasing decisions.

Essentially, influencer marketing is word of mouth advertising in the digital sphere. It’s easier for consumers to connect with a brand when they see it through the eyes of a real, relatable person.

Diva Marketing: Let’s drill down to the “influencer” which might be more complex to determine. Before we get into the weeds of the elements ~ for you, what makes an effective “influencer” for a brand campaign?

Danica Kombol: Ha! We debate about this often. An influencer is really anyone who is persuasive over a great number of people. An influencer is that person you know who tells you about the best hair salon or movie to see. In Malcolm Gladwell, Tipping Point-speak, these people are the “mavens,” or people we rely on to connect us with new information.

Most of us have many different subgenres of influencers in our lives. For example, I seek parenting advice from my friend Paula and technology advice from my friend Lina. In the “olden days” we’d have a phone conversation with that influencer seeking their advice on, say, the next gadget to buy. Today, we see his or her Facebook post, and we take action or are influenced by them.

Diva Marketing: Is there a secret recipe that Everywhere Agency created to determine if a person is a digital/social media influencer? By that I mean is a percentage of reach, followers, Klout score, engagement , etc that is used? If not what does Everywhere take into consideration?

Danica Kombol: Sure, and contrary to my response above where I define just about anyone with influence as an influencer, at Everywhere Agency we are specifically looking for “digital influencers” or those folks with an extremely large digital footprint and a very engaged audience. So yes, we look at numbers.

If they are a blogger, we look at their UMV’s (unique monthly visits), but in this day and age, we’re as likely to look at their Instagram, Vine, Snapchat or Twitter reach. Most important of all is what the influencer writes or talks about. There has to be a real match for the brands we represent.

Diva Marketing: In the Public Relations world celebrity marketing has been a tactic for a very long time. How does influencer marketing differ from celebrity marketing?

Danica Kombol: Ha, ha. It’s not so different anymore! Because I’ll tell you, a lot of these YouTube influencers are now celebrities in their own right! Celebrity marketing is an aspect of influencer marketing. At Everywhere Agency, we’ve worked with celebrities, but the core of our activations revolves around digital influencers.

Diva Marketing: Would you share a successful influencer marketing campaign with us e.g. what made it successful, how did you determined which influencers to use, etc?

Danica Kombol: We recently did a series of Twitter chats for Macy’s. We were promoting the fact that Macy’s carries plus-sized clothing in their stores and embraces women with curves.

Macy’s teamed up with SuperModel Emme to do a series of fashion shows in their stores featuring plus-sized models and influencers. We found curvy bloggers who write about fashion to model and then joined forces with Emme to have Twitter chats where we talked about body positivity, fashion trends for curvy women, and the power of embracing your curves.

The conversations were amazing (even leading us to trend on Twitter). The impressions, which are how we measure our social conversations, topped 36 million. What was evident to us in these chats was that there are all these women who want to have this conversation, and we were proud to help facilitate it. Did I mention we won an AMY Award for our efforts?

Diva Marketing: What metrics do you usually use to determine the success of a campaign? If can share any tools that would be great!

Danica Kombol: We look at a variety of factors – and every campaign has a different goal, so success doesn’t always look the same. Some clients are more concerned with the quality of content and photos than the amount of eyeballs that see it. Generally, we consider a campaign successful based on the number of impressions, a.k.a. the number of people who potentially saw a post, and the level of engagement or interaction the posts received.

Determining these statistics can be tricky, but we currently use a platform called Tracx to keep tabs on how our influencers are performing.

Diva Marketing: What 3 tips would you give a brand manager new to influencer marketing?

Danica Kombol:

1. Don’t expect the influencer to do a carbon copy of your brand message. Realize the benefit of working with influencer is that they tell your brand story in their own voice. Give them the tools to tell the story, but let them tell it on their own.

3. And finally (and I’m not just saying this because I run an agency but), “don’t go it alone.” Finding the right influencer is only half the battle. Agencies like mine specialize in doing the negotiations, building out the story architecture, tracking the influencer and making sure all FTC guidelines are met.

Diva Marketing: What advice would you give that brand manager if an influencer goes ‘rogue?’

Danica Kombol: See tip number 3 above, where I encourage a brand manager to “not go it alone.” At Everywhere Agency, we’ve been working with the same 2500 members in our network for years. We know their strengths and weaknesses. WE ONLY work with influencers who meet deadlines and follow the brand mandates. An influencer who “goes rogue” is an influencer who was poorly chosen.

Diva Marketing: Let’s change direction and talk a little about influencer marketing from the influencer’s point of view. Number one question people want to know: Is this a financial exchange? In other words how should an influencer expect to get compensated?

Danica Kombol: By and large, any influencer with a large following gets compensated for their work. The good influencers have a healthy ratio of sponsored versus non-sponsored posts, and the campaigns we bring to influencers are all sponsored campaigns.

In other words, we are paying the influencer to write (in their own words) about a brand, event or product.

Diva Marketing: Understanding that each campaign is different, what are some of the common aspects an influencer can expect when participating in an influencer marketing program?

Danica Kombol: An influencer can and should expect clear direction from the brand. What specific messages must be included in your blog post or social shares? What’s the goal of the campaign? The influencer should also stop and ask if this campaign is a match for their audience.

The surest way for an influencer to lose their audience is to fill their content with advertising messages their readers don’t want to hear.

Diva Marketing: As is Diva Marketing’s tradition, we’re tossing the virtual mic back to you. Wrap it up anyway you’d like.

Danica Kombol:McKinsey & Co says that word of mouth is the primary factor in 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions, so influencer marketing isn’t something that’s nice to have – it’s a critical component in this era’s marketing landscape.

There’s power and passion and energy in influence that you don’t see in advertising. Go forth and be influential in your marketing efforts!!

12/30/2015

As we close out 2015 and begin the circle dance anew, there will be lots of predictions of what 2016 will hold in terms of marketing trends and must dos. This is not one of those posts.

Time brings perspective. So instead, I'd like to look back at one aspect of social/digital media marketing that was suppose to change the marketing game: from gaining a better understanding of our customers’ emotional profiles, to casual research insights, to more responsive customer care.

Social Listening

Ten years ago, or there about, Social Listening exploded into the digital landscape. It was positioned as the golden grail that would be the beginning of authentic conversational marketing. It soon became clear that unless you wanted to bury the new data it brought in garbled buzz words, social listening had better lead to a new customer communication channel where the brand could directly engaged with its customers. Back in 2005 that thought was revolutionary. Really! In fact, word revolutionary became a buzz word onto itself.

If your brand ignored the digital pioneers who were using social media as a new customer service or communication channel you quickly saw how the brand's reputation, online as well as offline could be impacted. When it came to the brand experience it seemed nothing was sacred or out of bounds for customers to tell their digital friends about the good, bad and ugly. Lest you think all social media posts were about the negative, Becky Carroll's blog Customers Rock told stories of great customer experiences... online and off.

We watched and learned along with the social media teams at Dell/Richard Binhammer and Lionel Menchaca; Comcast/Frank Eliason and Ford/Scott Monty as they publically walked the virtual tightrope. Sometimes they stumbled and fell and other times they got it right.

The social customer service human-to-human mantra was a seemingly simply 3 step plan.

We soon learned it was not as easy as it appeared. New complex, sophisticated models evolved like the Customer Reference Program, created by Jeremiah Owyang in 2007. Books about this new disruptive marketing world began to emerge. Naked Conversationsby Robert Scoble and Shel Isreal (2006) changed perceptions about how we would come to define this thing we called marketing. I was honored that my views were highlighted in two chapters.

And then it was 2015.

Social listening and social media customer service are built into most company digital initiatives. It's an old game now. Organizations from retail to healthcare to food to nonprofits tweet, post, video, snap photos & snap chat in social networks.

Listening is an automated process that brings stats and key words to managers in pretty charts and graphs. Brands engage... sometimes. Problems are resolved... sometimes. It often seems the social media customer service goal is to respond to as many customer concerns as possible in order to have the social media (home/handle) stream appears as though the brand is listening and caring. Frequently I find there is no follow-up after the initial engagement.

Is social media customer service the new 2016 advertising complete with PR spin? With so many people posting, tweeting, instagram-ing and the social streams moving so quickly, does it really it matter if we don't relate human-to-human?

And then it was 2016.

Time brings perspective. Perhaps 2016 is the right time to re-evalue how your digital/social media initiatives are executed and if they are supporting your brand values. No one promised this would be easy.

All the best for a happy, healthy and however you define successful 2016.

05/27/2015

I've often said the social web gives more than it takes.

Meeting people who may be outside of your usual network is one of its best 'gifts.' Alex Brown and I are worlds apart. We met in the "blogosphere" in 1999 when he was managing one of the first and most innovative online communities for Wharton.

Needless to say Alex is a pioneer in digital media. But Alex has another passion .. his love for horses.

He was able to combined his marketing talents and social media skills to build an amazing horse advocay community. It was not unusal for posts to pull in 500, 700, 1000 comments. Unheard of back in the day and even more so today. He's also the author of a brilliant and beautiful book - "Great and Goodness Barbaro And His Legacy."

Alex describes himself as -- " I am a horseman, who is also an internet marketing "geek." I have ridden horses all my life, and I have been using the internet for teaching and marketing since 1992."

Fast forward to 2015. Video is where many see the growth of digital media. When Alex told me about an innovative video project he was launching for a rather controversial topic that once again combined Alex's love of horse and social media I was excited to learn more.

Diva Marketing, Toby: Your latest project is a video series on YouTube, it seems a bit of a departure from the development of a book. Why did you choose this medium ?

Alex Brown: My goal for this project, Horses: Sports, Culture, and Slaughter, is simply for content consumption, rather than distribution.

I wanted to create some content that would be easy for audiences to find, and then consume. No friction. With a book, your audience has to buy the book, and even after purchase, there is no guarantee that the book is read. I fear that quite a few people who did buy my book have not get read through it in detail.

For this project, I had messages I want to get out there. This made more sense. I also wondered, if I created an online essay, would people read? Would it have the same credibility, sharability, and so forth. I settled on a video series, and YouTube as the platform.

Diva Markeitng, Toby: To go the route of a well made video series may take even more effort than a book. What messages are you trying to convey that are so important to you in this project?

Alex Brown: The horse slaughter issue is very controversial, here in the United States. I think it is an issue that should be resolved, one way or another, in the near term. I believe it exists because most horsemen (gender neutral) and horse lovers really don't understand all the issues related to the subject, and quite honestly many do not want to know.

So I wanted to create a resource that examined all the issues, both for and against horse slaughter.It is comprehensive, basically a brain-dump of everything I know.

Diva Marketing, Toby: Although an important, but controversial topic, one might think that many people would be turned off by the subject. I might even think that most people would just avoid your hard work. Is that a concern?

Alex Brown: That is the biggest problem, for sure. Slaughter is visually dreadful, regardless of animal. I don't watch slaughter videos online. Only animal rights people watch that stuff I think, so really it becomes an echo chamber of the same people talking to each other, rather than getting the message out to broader communites.

My series is "NON GORY" and I make that very clear right at the beginning of the series. It is basically a 55 minute interview of me, discussing at the issues and context surrounding the topic, that is then overlayed with "b roll" of places I have visited etc. that are relevent to the conversation. My dog, Harriet, even plays a cameo roll.

Diva Marketing, Toby: We like that your pooch Harriet plays a role! Max might want her paw print autograph! Seriously, so you create a great piece of content, that might be uncomfortable for some people to watch. You bring a wealth of experience in social media marketing, the big questions are how to you get the video out in front and what's your distribution strategy?

Alex Brown: I have been able to develop a pretty healthy social media following over the years. First with the community developed on timwoolleyracing.com and then alexbrownracing.com as we followed Barbaro's progress at New Bolton Center.

From there the book helped me further build the community. I now have more than 5k followers on Twitter, 5k friends on Facebook (that's the limit for a personal page) as well as a new Facebook page for my Advocacy work. From this page I was able to purchase a Facebook ad (post boost at $20, which I will probably repeat during subsequent weekends, on the assumption that people have more time to consume content on the weekend). I am also pretty active on LinkedIn (some of that is due to my consulting work in the social media space). Basically I have quite a decent platform to launch content.

Diva Marketing, Toby: Initial distribution, seeding, is important, how have you tried to get the series to spread?

One of my goals was the timing of the launch. I wanted to get it out there during the Triple Crown series. This is important because it is the time of year that horses are on the national conscience. Media are covering our sport. We know when we explore the science behind "viral" content, an important factor is to design content that is part of the current conversation on the internet.

Even in the video design, I ask at the end of the series for those who "liked" the series to post it on their social platforms. You have to be very deliberate about this stuff. I have also been able to reach out to my network of media connections, to try to help spread the word.

Again, you have to be very deliberate and go after every connection you have. You then need to try to track conversations about the series, in what I call the "free marketing" space. Any comments, you respond. Even negative comments, engagement is very important.

Diva Marketing, Toby: Totally agree. Without the engagement factor you might as well keep content on a website. The series has been out for little more than a week, how has it been received?

Alex Brown: So far, the three videos have received 1,000 views, according to YouTube. I think that is a pretty good start. I have had some media coverage, one of which really did help get the word out.

Now I am continuing to try too engage with media, and now directly with friends on Facebook to watch the series, and then post about it. I think that is important.

I don't just ask people to spread the word, it is KEY that someone watched the series first. That way, the person can talk specifically about the series, as she promotes it. I think that sends a much stronger message.

Diva Marketing, Toby: What tip would you give people who want to step in to video? Bringing it back to digital marketing, are the results really worth the effort?

Alex Brown: Step in, experiment, fail forward (learn from your experiences) I am still experimenting with the medium, and am working on a couple of other projects for other clients, and the format is very different, short two minute clips focused on singular key ideas.

Finally, SEO is critical. What are the important keywords, and how are they included in the title, description and so forth.

And be passionate, because passion can overcome challenges.

Diva Marketing, Toby: I love that last thought!

Alex Brown: Yes, very critical. I have two passions, horses and the internet, my worlds collide! Horses - pre industrial revolution, technology - post industrial revolution. Now we are trying to use the technology to save the horse.

Diva Marketing, Toby: As is our tradition, on Diva Marketing, we're tossing the virtual mic to you Alex. Wrap it anyway you'd like.

Alex Brown: Thanks Toby. Early reaction to the series has been positive; I just really hope it helps move the conversation from one among animal rights groups, to one among horsemen and horse lovers throughout the United States.

03/18/2015

What is your best advice for a local small business that wants to leverage the web for marketing purposes? was the question my friend Paul Chaney, Editor of Web Marketing Today asked me and a few other "in the know" marketers.

Thought you might enjoy my response!

Great question Paul and one that many people will take from the strategy point of view: know your goals, how to measure them and your audience. Let’s look at this from a slightly different point of view: content consistency.

I look at content consistency from two perspectives. The first direction includes tonality, topics, and touch. The second direction is time.

Tonality is the voice you’ll use through out the web from your website and to social media channels For example, if you’re managing a rap group the tonality will be different than if you’re selling financial products to corporate accounts.

Topics quite simply are what you want chat about to your digital community. However, the format might be a blog, video, podcast or photos/images. The most successful topics are those that your audience cares about .. I call that ‘now I care content.’ Content that is so compelling it is shared.

Touch is how you’ll engage with your audience. It’s often neglected but can be the most powerful piece of your web marketing. What will you say when someone shares your content on Twitter or drops a comment on Facebook?

Time is well … time! Especially for small business owners, who wear multiple hats, we have to come to terms that we can’t do it all or all at once. Identify which web marketing tactic will give you the most return for time spent. That may not always be direct revenue but branding or extended reach. As an example, for a B2B service or product it may be diving deeply into LinkedIn. For a food media company it may be Twitter that best drives audience for you.

Take into consideration that all four Ts must work in harmony which leads us full circle to your goals, how to measure and your audience.

02/04/2015

N.E.D., an innovative rock band of 6 U.S. cancer surgeons, tours the country using their music to create awareness about women's cancer issues.

As Doc/Musician Nimesh Nagarsheth told us in this Diva Marketing interview, "Through our music we are able to reach thousands at a time getting our our awareness and education messages and quite honestly have a great time doing it."

N.E.D's heartwarming story inspired award winning producers from Spark Media to become N.E.D. groupies (of sorts) following the band for over three years. The end result was an award winning film - N.E.D. The Movie.

There is more. Today on World Cancer Day Regal Cinemas is showing the film (schedule). Awesome and amazing. Hope you are as inspired as I was by this story. Please enjoy this inteview with the producers and Rockin' Doc Nimesh.

About N.E.D (No Evidence of Disease): A rock band made up of 6 women’s cancer surgeons with the goal of raising public awareness of gynecologic cancers through music and the arts.

Our Story Tellers

Nimesh Nagarsheth, M.D. / Drums, Percussion: Dr. Nagarsheth is on faculty at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood, New Jersey.

“You can learn a lot from patients with cancer. And they see the world in a way that’s much different from the way that someone else sees the world.”

Andrea Kalin, Director, Executive Producer: Andrea Kalin is an Emmy Award Winning filmmaker and founder of Spark Media, a production company dedicated to producing films with a social conscience.

Karen Simon, Producer: Producer Karen Simon has worked on several Spark Media documentaries, including Prince Among Slaves, Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story, and Partners of the Heart. She also led the innovative national educational outreach effort for Partners of the Heart.

Diva Marketing/Toby: I get the overall mission of N.E.D. is to increase awareness of GYN cancers and that music is a universal experience ... but why a “Doc Rock Band?”

N.E.D./Nimesh: Music and the arts are extremely effective forms of communication. While our day jobs as a women’s cancer surgeons are extremely rewarding – we are most often working and making a difference with one patient at a time. Through our music we are able to reach thousands at a time getting our our awareness and education messages and quite honestly have a great time doing it.

Creating and performing original music is extremely therapeutic for us. I truly believe our music is special because our unique background and experiences as cancer surgeons is reflected in the music we create.

Diva Marketing/Toby: From the world of music who inspires you Doc Nimesh?

N.E.D./Nimesh: My strongest influences are RUSH, Foo Fighters and U2. However, I truly appreciate many kinds of music and often visit the Jazz clubs in NYC as well as other music venues.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Dr. Nimesh, you do have an eclecitc music tastes! Let’s talk a little more about the band. Since the ‘doc-musicians’ are located across the U.S. How often does the group get together for practice?

N.E.D./Nimesh: There have been some years where we have 7 or more shows in a year. When this happens we usually practice one or two days before each performance. Often we will review our old songs and add one or two new songs we have been working on during the rehearsals. Everyone in the band prepares incredibly well for the rehearsals so we often are able to be extremely productive even at short rehearsals. When working on a new album, we will typically schedule a weekend rehearsal with our producer for preparation for recording in the studio.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Are any of the practices held virtually e.g. on Skype of Google+?

N.E.D./ Nimesh: Yes, many times 2 or 3 of the band members may work on parts vis Skype.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Were any of the docs in garage bands during their high school or med school days?

N.E.D./Nimesh: I have been in bands ever since junior high school. One of my earliest rock bands was Three For The Road. I joined and /or formed bands when in college, medical school, residency and fellowship and even now as an attending physician.

My local NYC band is Come Together(a Beatles and Rolling Stones cover band that has played at venues thoughout NYC and even twice at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Love that you're helping keep 'clasical rock' alive. Is N.E.D's music original and if so who are the composers?

N.E.D/ Nimesh: N.E.D. writes, records and performs original music. Everyone in the band has written and contributed to the song writing but for the latest recording John Boggess, Will Winter, and Joanie Hope have taken the lead on the writing.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Is the music part of a fund raising effort? If so where can we buy/download the tunes?

N.E.D/Nimesh: Yes, the music is large part of our fundraising efforts. Typically, we make the most impact in fundraising at our live performances through tickets sales, corporate donations, and merchandise sales. Our music is available on itunes and amazon.com.

Diva Marketing/Toby: The idea of a documentary about N.E.D. is intriguing. Who came up with the concept and how did you make the film compelling for the audience?

N.E.D/ Karen & Andrea: Spark Media learned about the band from it’s co-creator, a fellow GYN oncologist who brought the rock doctors together. They happened to be playing at an awareness raising event in Washington, DC, where Spark is based, so we got them together to talk for several hours around a table, and realized we had 6 fascinating, Type A+ people out to change the world in ways big and small.

We heard their passion for their patients, and their commitment to music as a powerful tool not only to raise awareness but also to heal. Add to that their personal commitment to reach their patients beyond the O.R. and we knew we had a story. We started following them around with cameras that same day, and didn’t stop for 3 ½ years.

Stylistic and engrossing, our film unfolds in harmony with the music of the band whose songs set the tone for each scene. Lyrics resonate with universal themes, that are cyclical, revolving around living and dying, body and soul. Our cameras reveal how cancer can bring out the worst and best in people, rip lifelong friends apart, but also pull families together closer than ever.

This isn’t a linear story, but a sequence of many stories, and emotive moments thematically cut with honesty and compassion and with a POV that’s intimate and relatively unfiltered.

The pace and tone of the film reflects the immediate, volatile, intensity of the cancer experience—the music is a release valve in their complex lives and a way of healing for all they cannot control. Story and music combine for maximum impact in ways that importantly serve our cause as we engage, dispel fears and invite viewers into a deep, purposeful engagement with a women’s health issue shrouded in unnecessary shame.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Since Diva Marketing is about digital and social media marketing let’s explore those avenues. When did N.E.D. realize that it had turned into a ‘brand?’

N.E.D./Andrea & Karen:

Actually, when you hear audiences chant: “N.E.D. N.E.D. N.E.D….” we realized it was the audience who branded the band and the film.

N.E.D. -- such a powerful and positive concept: No Evidence of Disease. We put a face to that concept, a movement to that concept, music to that concept, and the branding of the human experience began. We chose an impactful photo of Jennie McGihon who had lost her hair from her chemo treatments, but despite that, you could feel her strength and poise, still appreciate her beauty that radiates from inside out. She, to us, represented all women going through raw, difficult time.

Digital and social media have been powerful tools for us. We have captured over 500 hours of footage, and a large swath of that footage did not end up in the feature length cut. So, we have produced dozens of short pieces that are self-contained and powerful in and of themselves. We put those on social media and YouTube, and some of them will be on V.O.D. along with the film.

We use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and now Thunderclap, Google Hangouts and Reddit AMA in our outreach and audience engagement, extending our reach to individuals and groups all over the country and the world. Arming women with knowledge, the film and its emerging awareness campaign help to preserve dignity, and to channel discussions about women’s health needs into the public sphere.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Sounds like you certainly have the digital conversations covered! Who does N.E.D. hope to reach with its music and as we say in marketing, what are its goals?

N.E.D./Nimesh: First and foremost we want to reach our patients and their loved ones. We believe that music has some incredible healing qualities and our patients have told us time and time again that they feel this as well. Beyond our patients our music is really for everyone. We believe everyone has been touched (either directly or indirectly) by cancer and that our music can equally touch people.

Diva Marketing/Toby: How important is using social media/digital marketing in reaching those goals?

N.E.D./Andrea & Karen: Social and digital media outreach was crucial in helping our collective groups crank up the volume, and sustain a noisy, national movement to break through walls of silence.

Soulfully and cathartically dissolving taboos through feisty storytelling, combined with intricately planned and networked multilevel longitudinal engagement featuring live music performances, educational modules to convey What Every Woman Should Know, hip and diverse outreach using humor, and targeting at risk communities such as African Americans, Latina and Ashkenazi Jewish women through any all platforms where these groups convene.

We were screen and platform agnostic.

Diva Marketing/Toby: What are the digital/social media tactics that have been most successful in terms of creating awareness for the film, as well as, the band?

N.E.D./Andrea & Karen: Both the film and the Band have tried to draw in a wide, diverse audience and we understood from the outset that this would mean taking a shrewd approach to a difficult topic.

From the filmmakers perspective, we concentrated as much of our energies into the art of telling the story as we did in facilitating cutting-edge advocacy that would assure the film go beyond the screen to reach out to women, families, and the medical community on a grassroots level.

We believe weren’t just producing a film but igniting a movement.

From our early days in development, we ran a Kickstarter Campaign, online Auctions with Charity Buzz, Give back campaigns with Facebook, Giving Tuesday campaigns on Twitter, Work-in-progress screenings in theaters, stylized merchandise and hundreds of thousands of uncountable hours of grit and passion to network and turn any opportunity on any platform… even in the most unlikely situations into an opportunity.

There’s no magic bullet, nor platform or tactic that we can single out that was overwhelmingly successful, more so it was our openness to try anything and perseverance to believe in the long tail of success.

Diva Marketing/Toby: What lessons have you learned from incorporating social media in your communication strategy that you can share with us?

N.E.D/Brad Wilke of SmartHouse Creative: Though social media doesn't offer a magic elixir for all of your marketing challenges, it does provide a robust infrastructure within which you can integrate each and every piece of your go-to-market strategy. By keeping social media top of mind from planning through execution, you vastly increase the probability of "happy accidents," such as celebrity RTs, incidental media outlet coverage, and other seemingly random media hits.

For instance, with N.E.D., we were able to utilize social network analysis tools (such as NodeXL) to determine our subject matter influencers around the country, and, therefore, better target our conversations and content. Social media is not only a resource multiplier, but an essential component of any serious product release strategy, including independent films, music, and related creative projects.

Diva Marketing/Toby: Even though the docs in N.E.D. are teaching us about GYN cancer, we all learn from our experiences. What has being a member of the band taught each of the docs?

N.E.D/ Nimesh:

I have learned to be a better listener when taking care of my patients. I have also learned how to cope with the stresses of being a doctor through my creative role in the band.

Diva Marketing/Toby: As is our tradition, we’re passing the mic back to the extraordinary docs in the band. Please wrap the interview anyway you’d like.

N.E.D/Nimesh: I would like thank all of our amazing fans and supporters throughout the years that have helped us make N.E.D. an incredible success!

11/06/2014

Understanding that women gain strength and the comfort from the stories they share and are shared they used digital and social networks to tell the #StoriesoftheGirls . Through the following interview Christine Piester, VP Marketing and Christine Bon, Manager Digital Marketing and Communication graciously provided us with a case study of the program.

This post is dedicated to my sister Susan who I know is dancing in the stars.

About Advocate Health Care. Advocate Health Care is the largest health system in Illinois and one of the largest health care providers in the Midwest.

Advocate operates more than 250 sites of care, including 12 hospitals that encompass 11 acute care hospitals, the state’s largest integrated children’s network, five Level I trauma centers (the state’s highest designation in trauma care), three Level II trauma centers, one of the area’s largest home health care companies and one of the region’s largest medical groups. As a not-for-profit, mission-based health system affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate contributed $661 million in charitable care and services to communities across Chicagoland and Central Illinois in 2013.

Our Story Tellers

Christine Priester, VP, Marketing

Christine Bon, Manager Digital Marketing & Communication

Diva Marketing/Toby: How did the idea of #StoriesoftheGirls evolve? Was it a difficult sell to management including the hospital administrator?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon: Obviously, the idea of #StoriesOfTheGirls remains a very edgy concept. Anytime you introduce a double entendre (“the girls”) as part of your campaign you take a risk. However, the Chicago health care market is noisy and we had to figure out a way to break through the clutter. Not only did we have to sell this concept to the health system leadership, we had to convince the 12 hospital presidents that this was the right idea, at the right time and with the right audience.

In order to gain the necessary buy-in, our CMO hosted numerous sessions where she outlined the campaign and addressed any questions and concerns. The vast majority of our internal leadership were overwhelmingly supportive, there were a few unsure outliers, but they soon became believers once they saw the results.

Diva Marketing/Toby: What was success for the campaign and how was it measured?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon: While we wanted women to join the conversation at StoriesOfTheGirls.com, we really wanted women to take advantage of our patient added-value proposition.

We were the first in the market to offer same-day, no-referral mammograms. This breaks down access barriers and allows women to schedule their mammogram on their terms, when they have some extra time as life might be too busy to schedule this test a few weeks out, months out, but there is no time like the present.

So, that said we measured the growth in mammogram appointments (up over 10% across the system), web site visits, and engagement in the conversation (social media).

Diva Marketing/Toby: The micro site is rich with content about breast healthcare. For many visitors to the site, I’m guessing the most compelling content is the video stories told by the breast cancer survivors and physicians. How were these women indentified? What were their reasons to publically participate in #StoriesoftheGirls?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon: Advocate Health Care treats more breast cancer patients than anyone else in Illinois, and more of our patients become survivors than any other system. Through our over 30 mammogram locations across the system, we were able to tap into our internal resources to identify patients with compelling stories that were willing to participate in the campaign.

And, we had, and continue to have no problems with patients wanting to tell their story. All of our survivors say if telling their story can just save one woman’s life it was worth it. They also appreciated the real tone and voice of the campaign.

They have all grown tired of the traditionally depressing look at this disease and wanted to show that women’s relationships with “the girls” is much more than a cancer diagnosis.

This year we have some wonderful new videos that include not only survivors, an update on one of last year’s featured patients, but patients currently going through treatment, Sue even shaved her head on the video as her hair was falling out – emotional stuff!

Diva Marketing/Toby: I would love to be able to chat with these amazing people. Did you explore incorporating real-time conversations through social networks, perhaps a Tweet Chat or a G+ Hangout?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon: Glad you asked this question. New in the 2014 Stories of the Girls campaign is a message board prominently on the StoriesOfTheGirls.com microsite. We knew that we had to take this campaign to the next level in terms of the conversation so this is an exciting element this year (just launched on 9-15-14). Here, you can chat with survivors, you can talk with other families and their friends going through this journey with a loved one, you can ask our doctors questions, and you can simply ask about other breast health issues from puberty and first bras, to breastfeeding, boob jobs, and changes during menopause. Anything goes! We’d be happy to put you in touch with any of our featured survivors, check out their amazing stories through these videos.

Advocate Health Care/Christine Bon: The #StoriesOfTheGirls contest was another extender of the conversation. We wanted women to share their inspiring photos, but also just women in general living healthy lives. Women were encouraged to share their photos and in turn were entered to win a gift card to a specialty bra store in Chicago. Since we had just launched our Instagram account the month prior, this was a great way for us to gain some new followers and boost engagement.

Diva Marketing/Toby: What was the most surprising aspect of the Instagram contest?

Advocate Health Care/Christine Bon: Through the contest, we uncovered some very inspiring stories and one that we are now featuring in this year’s campaign: Kia. We also saw a side of our own associates (employees) who shared their breast cancer journey through photos as well. We were excited to see how quickly we gained new followers who were interested in our content and still engage with us on the social platform.

Diva Marketing/Toby: In addition to Instagram what other social media tactics were included? Which one was your favorite and why?

Advocate Health Care/Christine Bon: In addition to Instagram, we also used Facebook as a social platform to drive awareness of breast cancer by creating a daily calendar of trivia questions about breast health. There was a new question posted each day. Once the daily question was answered you were automatically entered to win a handmade breast cancer awareness crystal bracelet. You were able to enter a total of 31 times for a chance to win the grand prize of gift card to a specialty bra store in Chicago.

We also used Facebook as a platform to share all of our patient’s incredible stories, and also to promote our Instagram contest. Both of our social promotions were well received and we got some great submissions and are continuing to engage through new social promotions with the campaign this year as well and we are seeing even greater results!

Diva Marketing/Toby: How are consumer generated stories/photos being used to extend awareness of #StoriesoftheGirls and breast cancer health?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon: Our videos and patient stories have been picked up by many local media outlets as further promotion. Our patients also blog and are the subject of many stories on our brand journalism site ahchealthenews.com View some of them here.

We also have a partnership with the Chicago Cubs, Bulls, and Bears and we are able to leverage those relationships to have breast cancer awareness events where are patients are honorary captains, sing the 7th inning stretch, and more! It’s a year-long commitment to keep breast cancer awareness at the forefront, not just during October.

Diva Marketing/Toby: The #StoriesoftheGirls campaign kicked off October 2013 to support Breast Awareness Month and appears to be continuing into the summer of 2014 and beyond. As one might say in the theatre, what makes this a long-running show?

Advocate Health Care: Christine Priester/Christine Bon:

This campaign is authentic and real and that’s what gives it staying power.

Act 2 of the show is in market now and we couldn’t be more excited. An element of this campaign remains in market year-round, however. We want to make sure we’re promoting early detection of breast cancer through mammography 365 days a year. And, we want to make it easy for women to get their mammogram and new this year they can find out their results in less than 24 hours – talk about reducing worry that often times accompanies the wait on this test.

Diva Marketing/Toby: What lessons did you learn and can pass along to others in healthcare that maybe considering creating digital/social campaigns?

Advocate Health Care/Christine Bon: Take a risk, it’s worth it!

Content is critical.

Don’t tell your consumers about new equipment, this or that accreditation, they don’t care.

Make your campaign about them, not about you.

Speak to your audience how people have conversations in their real life and reach out to them how they like to receive the message (social media, email, direct mail), everyone has a preference, learn it!

And, amazingly, you do this, they will talk back to you, and then you have a two-way, engaged consumer conversation and you create brand loyalty.

Toss of a pink boa to Sarah Scroggins for her help in coordinating this interview.

10/07/2014

This week it was my honor to present at South Wired 14, formerly known as Digital Atlanta. South Wired is the longest on-going social media/digital marketing conference in Atlanta. It was my pleasure to share the stage, as co-presenters, with Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe.

South Wired is 5 days packed with smart people talking about issues of how to succeed in the ever changing and challenging world of digital marketing. Dorothea and I spent hours discussing what we could bring to the party that might be a little different and add value for the attendees.

Our conversations led us to explore the complexies people are facing with eco-systems from multiple social networks. With each network you participate in from tier one e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Linkin, YouTube, Pinterest to tier two e.g. Instagram, SnapChat, Jelly, dating sites, etc, .. you get the drift .. you attract and build an audience. You set expectations.

During the course of the session we handed out little napkins (social = fun!) and asked attendees to diagram their social eco-systems. Some people were surprised at the extent of their social network eco-systems. It was a fun exercise and Madison Harris even shared hers on Twitter.

We talked about how privacy is an illusion on the social web, how anything can be hacked and so much more. Dorothea and I are happy to share the deck with you.

Make sure you check out the last section Managing Outside Your Zone. There are tips and ideas and a worksheet I developed that will you define who to follow/friend and the extent of person information you want to share on specific social networks.

08/13/2014

There's a new dude in town.

Well in the world of the American Marketing Association. Russ Klein recently accepted the role of CEO for AMA and with that he now leads North America's largest professional marketing association. Of course, AMA dropped a media release which details Russ' credentials (impressive!).

I was curious about the man-behind-the-logo. I felt I had a bit of a vested interest since my AMA affliation has a deep and long history from chapter president, to serving as facilitator of interactive and social media workshops and managing AMA's first virtual communities. One might even say, AMA set me on the road to social media when I chaired its first conferene on blogs in 2004 into 2005.

Russ graciously agreed to a Diva Marketing interview. In the following conversation he offers:

his view on the future of marketing in a disruptive world,

a peak into his vision for AMA,

the importance of volunteers and his plans to ensure continuous engagement .. and more.

Toby/Marketing: It sounds almost trite to say that marketing is in a state of disruptive chaos and change. Russ, having been in the center of creating marketing plans for some of the largest consumer brands, you can appreciate that our tool boxes are overflowing with new tactics and strategies.

How does a brand, any brand, ensure that its marketing is relevant and adds value for the customer?

Russ Klein/AMA: That’s not an interview question, that’s a theme for a book! Well certainly relevance and value are two watchwords that are the right ones to guide any marketers actions.

It’s not about what’s possible, despite all of the amazing technological advances we all see. It’s still about what is relevant. The main thing many marketers lose sight of is that merely being different is not necessarily relevant to consumers.

Creating differences that matter in the lives of consumers is what’s relevant.

I think the more mysterious question lies with the question of value. I am an ardent believer of Rifkin’s theory of near zero marginal coststhat he asserts is imminent as a result of the internet of things and the remaining connectivity potential that is in our future. When you have a knowledge-based enterprise like the AMA competing in a world of open sourced innovation, a sharing economy, and lateral economies of scale, there are tremendous downward pressures on the costs of information.

MIT has posted its entire 1800 course curriculum online for free. So the AMA is not only challenged with delivering relevant thought and service leadership to its constituents, our products and services must be peerless to command some level of sustainable pricing power. This is why I am so excited to take on the challenges facing the AMA. This is the ultimate strategic gauntlet for any CEO to navigate.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Totally agree Russ it is a ‘big’ and not easy question. Perhaps we should put that book on our to do list!

However, the American Marketing Association is more than just another brand. One might say the AMA is the North Star for marketers. What do you feel is AMA’s North Star?

Russ Klein/AMA: Great question. My belief is that the academic gravitas and scholarly distinction…is to the AMA, what Mickey Mouse…is to Disney.

More specifically, by Mickey Mouse, I mean film animation. If you remove animated film credentials and the institutional/cultural effects associated with them, Disney is just another film company…no Disneyland, no Disneyworld, no transcendent lifelong emotional attachment with its consumers. If you remove the AMA Journals thought leadership and the esteemed academic status of being published in them, the AMA is just another conference company or speakers bureau.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Moving into the future how will the organzation ensure its does not lose its foucs in a vast sea of chaos?

Russ Klein/AMA:

Chaos is opportunity for those that can stay poised and focused.

I view it simply as a matter of strategy, because strategy is all about choice. That’s something I’ve never been uncomfortable with. It goes back to what’s relevant, not what’s possible. It’s my job to help the organization identify opportunities and set priorities that can advance the AMA enterprise, and discard those that don’t.

The AMA culture must be one that values decisiveness and managerial courage to take stands in a civil and respectful way. If we stay focused on how we figure into the lives of our constituents, our stakeholders, and our users we will stay relevant and compelling.

The AMA is about improving the way marketing is practiced around the world. In so doing, we will be a vital catalyst spurring improved commerce and prosperity in communities and everywhere.

Toby/Diva Marketing: In your opinion Russ, what is the most critical aspect of marketing that is ‘broken’ which AMA can help ‘fix?”

Russ Klein/AMA: Two things. There is profound lack of 1) Training and development of talent and 2) Managerial courage.

First, CEO’s and CMO’s can’t expect talent to come to them with all the tools and skill-sets necessary to become a world-class marketer. Even if they have those assets when they arrive, the need for lifelong ongoing training and development plans never ceases.

As a CMO I felt a personal obligation to create learning cultures where curiosity and teachable moments were valued. I always felt if I wasn’t spending at least 25% of my day improving the professional capabilities of my people, I was failing. My observation and experience is that this isn’t happening nearly enough.

Second, business in general and marketing in particular is simply not black and white. As much as I believe in disciplined marketing science, there is also marketing art.

Managers are almost always presented with a spectrum of management decisions that range from “no-risk” to “high-risk” with corresponding rewards. Too many corporate cultures, including the marketing cultures inside them, are built around fear of failure and fear of appearing wrong. Or there’s the “go along to get along” mentality which is responsible for more mediocrity than I care to admit I’ve seen.

My advice to every marketer, young and old, is to re-examine your capacity for the courage of your convictions. You can’t inspire greatness or excellence without periodic principled “stands” for what you believe to be the right thing to do.

Toby/Diva Marketing: With your background as CMO for major consumer brands, as well as, award winning agency work you bring a prestigious CV to the party. However, nonprofit associations have some different and unique challenges. What most excites you about the opportunity to lead the AMA?

Russ Klein/AMA: I believe the one thing I bring is a ferocious passion to compete. While nobody would ever want to characterize the AMA as a bloodthirsty competitor, I do believe we are nonetheless competing with other formidable knowledge-based enterprises.

The need to identify and leverage competitive advantage is just as relevant in a not-for-profit arena as it is in the for-profit world. I suppose the most obvious difference is the amount of resources available to the AMA to advance its vision versus other better heeled for-profit and scaled up companies. Conversely, those companies seldom can call upon thousands of volunteers and advocates for whom their volunteerism is both a source of personal satisfaction and a calling to be of service to others. I believe the opportunity to hold up a shared vision as a source of inspiration can power the AMA when dollars can’t.

Toby/Diva Marketing: We like to think of AMA as The premier association in terms of marketing sciences thought leadership. Recently it appears the perception is AMA has lost ground to marketing content house like MECLABS, MarketingProfs, eConsultancy,SmartInsights, and of course, to marketing bloggers. What are your thoughts?

Russ Klein/AMA: On one hand I welcome the increased attention that many other enterprises are bringing to the practice of marketing science. Conversely, no one can deliver the academic thought and service leadership, the chapter level engagement, and the volunteerism that distinguishes the AMA. The so-called competitors out there should serve to motivate us to sharpen our competitive advantages in a way that, if we were uncontested, we probably never would.

The esteem with which marketing practitioners, academics, and students are viewed should be on the same level as those who choose medicine or science as their pursuit. The AMA is uniquely positioned to elevate marketing science in this way because of its academic credentials.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Do you believe that the AMA should reclaim some of that 'thought leadership position' and if so how?

Russ Klein/AMA: I would never say that we couldn’t improve our thought leadership position. Knowledge is a fluid and perishable product. If I didn’t think our best ideas for thought leadership are ahead of us I couldn’t say our best days are ahead of us; and they most definitely are!

Toby/Diva Marketing: Although not professional associations, CEB and MECLABS have recently made acquisitions (Iconoculture and Marketing Sherpa respectively). It’s a different path to follow, but what are your thoughts about the possibilities of strategic acquisitions to grow the AMA and supplement areas where AMA does not have a strong reputation or extensive experience?

Russ Klein/AMA: My fundamental belief is that a healthy business model needs to identify organic growth first. If there are adjacent growth opportunities that can enable or accelerate the AMA vision through acquisition or strategic alliances I imagine we’d want to take a hard look at them.

Toby/Diva Marketing: AMA has traditionally served many different types of marketers: students, academics, practitioners, and researchers. What are your views on how that should be managed in the future? Do you think AMA should continue to try to serve everyone or focus more on one or more groups?

Russ Klein/AMA: I have always been an ardent champion of sharp, vivid focus on core users of a brand.

In the case of the AMA our core users just happen to cut horizontally across like-minded practitioners, academics, and students all of whom are engaged in the pursuit of original and best practices in marketing science. That said, there are still important ways of closing the aperture to create more focus for which we have ideas that remain part of our confidential strategic planning process.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Since AMA members make up part of Diva Marketing’s community and I am an AMA past president of the Atlanta Chapter, let’s talk a bit about the heart and soul of AMA ... its volunteers. What will be the role of professional chapters in the future?

How will the relationship between HC and Chapters evolve - or not?

Russ Klein/AMA: Also a great question. If the academic prowess of the AMA is its strategic advantage, then the thousands of volunteers are the unsung heroes that are responsible for converting that AMA advantage into an AMA experience. Understanding that it is the volunteers who are responsible for delivering the first formative AMA experience to new members is a critical recognition for the so-called headquarters of the AMA. There is just no substitute for “being there” and starting with me, I plan to become a familiar face to as many of our chapters as possible.

Politicians and Rock N’ Roll bands both know that the secret to build true loyalty and engagement is by being in the markets; stumping or playing music to their constituents.

I am a big believer in local knowledge and that collecting it in person is the best way to learn about the unique minds and moods of the membership and volunteers.

It might be a good idea to change the “headquarters” language to “support center” which better describes the service leadership we are responsible for providing. Simple ideas like that send culture messages to the organization…but we have to be able to walk the talk. I’m sure we are, but we can always be more present at the chapter or event level.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Professional associations struggle with membership attrition and AMA has its challenges in this area. What are your thoughts on how to engage AMA members, and as important, how to keep them engaged with the association?

Russ Klein/AMA: Engagement is the operative word. Our goal must always be to convert a user’s connection with the AMA, no matter how it begins, into an engaged relationship wherein the AMA is providing the thought and service leadership that can help that individual experience to advance their personal objectives; be that research, publishing, knowledge acquisition, professional training and development, career networking and camaraderie, problem solving, or identifying marketing strategies and best practices for growth. If we’re creating value in these ways, membership growth and attrition will take care of themselves.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Dennis Dunlap, immediate past AMA CEO, began an international expansion which involved China. What are your thoughts/plans about growing the association’s footprint both on a global and national basis?

Russ Klein/AMA: We are not about planting flags unless we can get the commensurate returns from a scaled up presence. The opportunity to grow membership and engagement inside the U.S. alone is more than enough to satisfy our needs for growth; so it will require a judicious balance and allocation of resources on our part.

With that in mind the AMA will continue to examine thoughtful expansion outside North America where it makes sense. There’s no question, that not unlike American exports of film and music entertainment, American marketing is viewed as a global standard for which the appetite is large.

Toby/Diva Marketing: What are some of the lessons you bring with you from your time in the fast food industry that will help support your success in this exciting new role?

Russ Klein/AMA: The fast food industry is the most competitive industry in the world, simply because so many companies are competing for the largest consumer dollar in the world; the food dollar.

I’ve already shared my belief that I will bring a very energetic sense of competitiveness to the AMA. Beyond that, the other element the fast food industry has taught me is that the restaurant manager trumps the brand manager every time.

Likewise, it will still be our chapter-level execution in delivering a world-class professional experience that will define the AMA, not what my team located in Chicago dreams up and posts online.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Since, of course, Diva Marketing is ‘social media’, which means people-talking-to-people, we’d love to get to know a little about the person behind the AMA logo.

7 Fun Fact About Russ!

1. Briefcase or backpack…backpack2. Tablet or laptop…laptop3. PC or Mac…Mac4. Favorite word…grateful5. One of your ‘bucket list’ to dos…build a tree house on my ranch in Colorado and have a family reunion there.6. Favorite social network…Facebook personal/LinkedIn professional7. Must have when traveling…running shoes

Toby/Diva Marketing: It’s a Diva Marketing tradition to toss the virtual mic to you and give you an opportunity wrap the interview. Is anything you’d like to say to our community about marketing, digital/social media, AMA or ????? It’s your turn Russ!

Russ Klein/AMA: There’s no better time in business history to be a marketer. Get involved with the AMA and I guarantee you will get back many times over what you devote to it. Together, we’re going to light the path to improve marketing originality and best practices and make it the best profession you’ll ever love!

08/04/2014

When BBF Yvonne DiVita, author/founder of Lipsticking and BlogPaws, asked me to play along on an 'old fashion' blog meme or blog hop, I immediately said yes.

Blog memes were popular before blogs were social media. So this post is not only fun but a bit nostalgia.

I've always wanted to be a "Writer." However, I never really knew I was until I started Diva Marketing. Funny because I wrote all the time. I've always had/and have a little note book with me to jot ideas, impressions, thoughts. I write in coffee shops, on planes, on trains, in parks, in a car. I write most everywhere. With my little note books I am never alone.

Why do I write .. to tell stories; you might have noticed that most of the posts on diva marketing wrap around a story.

Why do I write .. to clear my thoughts; writing is a way to capture ideas that sometimes seem allusive.

Why do I write .. to share and to teach; writing provides a tangible way to help others learn.

Why do I write .. because I have to.

Why do I write .. to play with words; so many choices to make when you write; it's fun to paint with the rainbow of words.

Why do I write .. this may sound odd but I write to read what I wrote.

Why do I write? Perhaps the next question is what do I want to write next?

Part of a meme is to tap a few friends who will take the concept and put their own spin on it. I am excited that three of my favorite bloggers will be joining the meme parade. Please meet ...

Paul Chaney - Paul and I share a special bond. You see, Paul was the first 'real blogger' I met offline. You always hold a special spot in your heart for your first. His four (yes count them 4!) books on blogs and social media are examples of his love of writing and teaching. He has a special gift of taking complex topics and making them understandable .. and fun. Oh and he's an awesome piano player! Drop by to read Paul's post on 8/25. Blog Twitter

Nettie Reynolds - Nettie once said to me that if you can't laugh with a person, question if that person should be in your life. Nettie not only makes me laugh but she makes me smile. Nettie's diverse career runs from working with authors & creatives to create digital awareness and even performing stand up comedy and she's a playwright. Drop by to read Nettie's post on 8/18BlogTwitter

Des Walsh - I often say, blogs/social media give back more than they take. It's unlikely that my path would have cross with this wise and smart man from Australia without the benefit of the digital world and blogs. Although Des is based on the other side of my world, through Skype, G+ Hangouts and social media his coaching, LinkIn mentoring and social media business has no geographical boundaries. Drop by to read Des' post on 8/11.BlogTwitter

Toss of a pink boa or perhaps I should say, pink notebook, to Susan Foster for starting this blog hop.

07/28/2014

The Waffle House, an American, iconic, southern, restaurant company, walked away with the social media trophy.

Paying not one of the 75k dollar sponsorship fees, the Waffle House's followers organically helped score them the win via a social media waffle battle: sweet versus Belgium waffles.

Many saw the battle unfold on Twitter but I wondered ... what was the back-story? How did it begin and what course of action did the Waffle House plan? Meghan Irwin, Waffle House, agreed to tell us what it was like during the heat of the Belgium Waffle Battle. Some of her answers might surprise you.

About Meghan Irwin - Our story teller, Meghan, has been working for the Waffle House, Inc. for almost three years.

She is part of the Communications Department where her role focuses on social media management and event execution.

About Waffle House®Restaurants - Headquartered in Norcross, GA, Waffle House restaurants has been serving Good Food Fast® since 1955. Today the Waffle House system operates more than 1,700 restaurants in 25 states and is the world’s leading server of waffles, T-bone steaks, hashbrowns, cheese ‘n eggs, country ham, pork chops and grits.

Toby/Diva Marketing: I read that the now famous Belgium Waffle House Tweet wasn’t planned. In fact, there was no committee or even social media team brainstorming on how to get into the World Cup social conversation. Would you fill us in on the who-what-why of the back-story?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Goodbull Hunting actually initiated the idea by tweeting at us upon hearing Team USA was moving onto the next round in the World Cup. When asked for our opinion of Belgian waffles, we replied with “We dominate them.”

TMZ Sports got word of this tweet then contacted us to ask more about it. On Monday June 30th, TMZ published the story and we kind of ran with it. So yes, this wasn’t planned.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Not only was Waffle House the darling of the social media world but main stream media picked up and moved your story along. Who was the first media outlet that contacted you?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Van Lathan from TMZ Sports reached out to us on Friday June 27th. Boycotting all things Belgian was a hot topic, so they asked if we would support that. Of course we would! We’re America’s place to eat!

Toby/Diva Marketing: What was it like at work when you began receiving calls and requests for interviews?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Surprisingly, we weren’t in the office for the majority of the day. The team was at a press conference for our valued partner Smithfield. We took most of the calls in our Waffle van to avoid any background noise. It was actually pretty amusing. We’d see emails for requests and we’d take turns by hopping in the van.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Did the excitement and buzz trickle to the field restaurants and if so what was their reactions?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Yes, we received positive feedback from Area Vice Presidents. We also educated the public and our customers that our waffles are not Belgian waffles. They’re sweet cream.

Toby/Diva Marketing: With all of the conversation and RTs that were happening, did the Waffle House tap additional people to monitor the conversation?

Megan Irwin/Waffle House: We work as team in the effort to engage in conversation with our fans.

Toby/Diva Marketing: We saw you were engaging with your community in RTs and responses. For many companies listening is a struggle in terms of the right tool and the time commitment. Would you share how the Waffle House approaches tracking, listening and reporting?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: We are one of those companies. We struggle just like everyone else in terms of time commitment and listening. We’re in the process of doing a trial with a couple companies now to see what fits best with our company.

Toby/Diva Marketing: There didn’t seem to be a unique hashtag from @WaffleHouse. Was this intentional?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: There wasn’t a need for a unique hashtag. This was an organic conversation with a fan. By adding a unique hashtag in this mix, we feel you lose the genuine feeling of the conversation.

Toby/Diva Marketing: Interesting idea Meghan. Perhaps we can encourage brands to be less "hashtag happy."

In addition to Twitter and Facebook were other social media tactics were included and if so which networks and which worked best to move the engagement?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: We focused on where the majority of our community is. We have a strong, vocal fan base on both Twitter and Facebook therefore our efforts to engage was focused on those two channels.

Toby/Diva Marketing: What was the most surprising aspect of the experience?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: The fact that our community responded with this playful boycott and ran with it. Also, we saw media outlets that don’t normally cover Waffle House, ending up covering this tweet.

Toby/Diva Marketing: To put your responses in context, what does social media mean to the Waffle House in terms of branding, awareness and customer loyalty?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House:

To us, social media means continuing the conversation with our customers after they have an experience with our brand. It continues well after they leave the restaurant.

Toby/Diva Marketing: How large is your social team and who does it report up to?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: As it falls under Communications, we work as a team.

Toby/Diva Marketing: As we discussed, the response Waffle House received was fantastic. What do you have in mind to build it?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: We want to stay true to the brand’s personality and maintain the engagement with our fans. Like I mentioned before, it’s all about keeping the conversation going with our customers.

Toby/Diva Marketing: In retrospect, is there any thing that you would have done differently?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Nothing at all. This tweet allowed us to grow our community and spread the word that Waffle House is on social.

Toby/Diva Marketing: What lessons did you learn that you can share with our community?

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House:

1. Be responsive.

2. Talk back to your fans if they engaged with you.

3. You never know what ideas you’ll come up with when engaging with fans. We were able to use the USA waffle photo by engaging with one of our fans.

Toby/Diva Marketing: It’s become a tradition to toss the virtual Diva Marketing mic to you and give you a chance to add anything else you’d like.

Meghan Irwin/Waffle House: Our community is the reason this happened. We enjoy engaging with our fans and customers and will continue to do so.

Getting to know your community is the best thing you can do on social media.

In the room, where I had the pleasure of talking about social media in newspapers, were people who had a passion for their papers and their industry.

As I quickly learned, running a weekly or small community newspaper is not unlike owning a small business. Except ... whatever you do is always front and center in the town you serve.

Like many small business owners, nonprofits and yes, larger brands, publishers struggle with how to critically and strategically enter the 21st century digital and social content world. Except ... they face an interesting dilemma when it comes to online content. As do radio and TV.

Actually, digital content strategy is a challenge facing any company whose ‘product’ is information. In the Interweb and social media, where free content is expected there is a haunting question.

How much do you ‘give away’ and what do you hold as a revenue stream?

Even before you can answer that question there are foundational aspects of social media that must be in place. I built the deck to, as they say in the foodie world, deconstruct the elements.

Each element in a digital/social media plan must beautifully stand alone before it can be (re)constructed or as marketers might say integrated.

We looked at social through the lens of the brand, journalists and advertisers. I led the group through an exercise that I called “What is different?” We reviewed four media websites: newspaper, TV, radio and online publisher. Our conclusion was the content was so similar we couldn’t identify the media type and it didn't matter which site we were on to just get information.

Question: How can the strengths of the newspaper industry at-large and your specific newspaper be used to created “Now I care content or stories” that are so unique and audience-relevant your community wants to socially share?

We looked at how newspapers, as a brand, engages with their communities. We discoved - not so much. Traditional culture of the media is to identify and tell the stories they feel are most important.

Social media takes radio, TV and newspapers into a far different and often uncomfortable world. It shouldn't be a big surprise to find many, especially smaller newspapers, challenged in how to balance those worlds.

Lesson learned: Social Media is used as a content distribution channel not as a ‘community communication channel.’ Newspaper publishers were reluctant to step out and ‘talk’ with their readers .. people-to-people.

Question: How can the brand step out from the behind the logo and talk to their readers online -- as they do offline at events and networking meetings?

In 1884, the Boston Globe's Confidential Chat was building community among women, and a few dudes in the greater Boston area. So I say ... go even further back to your roots newspaper peeps and learn from yourself!

Sidebar: This a real clip that I found in my mom's recipe box. She saved it for many years so I assume it must have held meaning for her. How long does your content 'stay around?' Or is it the digital equivalent of newspaper used to wrapped fish and chips?

We looked at journalists and their special challenges in producing social content and community engagement. We saw engagement but on a closer review it was frequently among their peers not with their community.

Lessons learned: Passion about the topic is important to sustain long-term participation on the social web. Social media writing especially, short tweets, can be a challenge of long-form story training.

Questions: How can journalists sustain a social conversation over time while holding true to the values of their newspapers and their personal brands? How can opinion tweets and posts be included .. or can they?

And there was more so I'm happy to shaing the deck with you. There are several worksheets that might be helpful as you build out systems and process for your plan. Some will help to align with what social media means to your company and how it can support overarching goals.

07/11/2014

Picture this.

It's been a stressful week and you're looking forward to a night of vegging out. The telly goes on and perhaps there is an adult beverage or two nearby. It's a scene played-out in many homes for nearly 70 years.

Over the past few years a there have been a few changes in How we watch TV.

On goes the TV set, you flip open your tablet and smart phone ready to watch. Only now you can chat with your friends about the show, play a few Walking Dead games and perhaps even buy that cute dress one of the actresses is wearing. Welcome to Second Screen TV and SocialTV. .

Joel kindly agreed to answer a few questions and give us his views on the future of second screen TV and socialTV.

Diva Marketing: The Insight Report you did with CivicScience indicates that multitasking is the name of the game for 45% of respondents who acknowledged using a ‘second screen’ (smart phone, tablet or computer) while viewing traditional broadcast TV.

It was also interesting to me that 80%, were not engaged online with content related to the show.

In your opinion is this a trend and if so, where does it leave content producers in terms of advertiser value?

Joel Rubinson: Hi Toby, thank you for your question. First, let me clarify that it is 45% of everyone watching TV who multi-task so it is actually a higher percentage of those who own an internet access device and watch traditional TV.

The fact that 80% or more of multi-taskers are doing so in unrelated ways means that media might have the wrong idea about what people want to do with the device in their hands. They are more interested in passing dead time than they are in enriching the TV experience.

Will this change? Perhaps, but media will need to offer more enticing experiences to get viewers to engage.

The value of this research we did using CivicScience’s data is understanding that the current crop of synchronized tools are not yet substantially changing viewing behaviors. Yet media and marketers desperately want it to work because it would add value to media ad inventory and impact to marketer advertising efforts. In the meantime, marketers should look for synergistic opportunities for their advertising on unrelated websites.

An exotic sounding but quite doable idea is for marketers to use real time bidding engines to bid for inventory at the precise moment that their advertising is airing on TV. Hence, if I’m seeing a commercial on Judge Judy and happen to be on a news site with RTB inventory at the moment, an advertiser could make sure I am seeing a display ad for the same brand.

Diva Marketing: In the report there was mention of “synchronized second screen experiences.” Would you please explain the concept and the opportunities as you see them?

Joel Rubinson: Synchronized experiences refers to using your internet device in a way that is related to the TV program you are watching.

This could be answering quizzes about what you think will happen to Rick in Walking Dead as he is face to face with a horde of Zombies (via an app for the show), or voting on Twitter for who should get kicked off American Idol or The Voice.

In contrast, unrelated multitasking is when I’m checking e-mail or messaging a friend on Facebook while watching a show.

I think the biggest opportunity is to build interest in real time viewing rather than recording the show on a DVR and potentially fast forwarding through the commercials.Synchronized experiences only work in real time.

Diva Marketing: How do you see the intersection of broadcast TV and online content being mutually beneficial for (1) audience/ratings growth , (2) advertisers and (3) viewer experience … or do you?

Joel Rubinson:

I believe that over the past 5-10 years all networks had to decide if online content was a threat to program ratings.

I believe they all came to the same conclusion that online viewing does not cannibalize TV viewing appreciably and actually builds ratings indirectly by getting someone more into the show.

This has been presented by Alan Wurtzel the research lead at NBC regarding the Olympics.

Online content was mostly viewed by those who wanted to relive favorite moments and seemed to go hand in hand with more TV viewing hours, not fewer, for the Olympics. Overall, the great majority of video content is still viewed in real time on the TV even with 5-10 years of significant growth of DVR use and live streaming over the internet.

TV watching is still the 800 pound gorilla (or at least 720 pounds) but watching content online is also a reality, it is growing and all progressive media companies need to embrace it and make it work for them.

The researcher in me wants to point out that one simple payback is realizing that the dot.com parts of TV networks have the ability to better track viewer interests via online digital behaviors, yielding first party data that can result in very powerful insights and promotional targeting.

Diva Marketing: Thanks Joel! I'm off to make sure my ipad, iphone and laptop are charged and I know the Twitter handle of the show.

More About the methodology, CivicScieince, Joel Rubinson and Partners

CivicScience is the provider of the real-time polling and consumer insights platform used by Joel Rubinson in this study. The second-screen questions were added to thousands of other questions running through the CivicScience polling platform and published via hundreds of web and mobile websites, and the data from the anonymous respondents were aggregated and mined using automated data science technology.

CivicScience's platform is used by consumer brand and media clients to quickly and deeply understand consumer sentiment and behaviors.

Joel Rubison is President and founder of Rubinson Partners, Inc. marketing and research consulting for a brave new world and a member of the faculty of NYU Stern School of Business where he teaches social media strategy. Started in 2010, Rubinson Partners, Inc. (RPI) has already helped position several clients for success in a digital age.

07/04/2014

In the wee hours of the morning traffic challenged Peachtree Street in Buckhead (Atlanta) experiences a few quiet hours before the mad rush hour/s begin.

But not on the Fourth of July.

Today the 45th Peachtree Road Race brought out more than 250,000 (60k official runners) people who woke up the city to take part in the world's largest 10K race.

Unlike it’s cousin the Boston Marathon, The Peachtree, as it's fondly called, is not just a race for runners or even joggers. It’s a community experience where generations of family and friends often walk together to celebrate life. Even for the people on the sidewalks who cheer on the runners, The Peachtree takes on a carnival atmosphere.

For many, like my pal Joe Koufman, founder of AgencySparks, it’s become a tradition. With race number 12 completed (note Joe's 1-2 fingers!), I asked Joe Why he continues to run The Peachtree.

"The Peachtree Road Race is more of an experience than a race. The sights, sounds, smells, and feel of the race make it spectacular.

Some of the highlights for me are walking to the MARTA station when there are few people setting up and the police are patrolling the course, then packing into the train like sardines with sticky runners, the costumes (this year I saw Hulk Hogan, Beer Maid, a banana, marching band in Speedos, and others), the official (and unofficial) bands every mile, and the thousands of spectators each celebrating the day with their unique styles.

I am never really trying to get a personal record (though I do train and run hard for the Peachtree). I like to soak in the entire experience."

A much anticipated part of The Peachtree tradition is the t-shirt that goes to all official runners who complete the race. The t-shirt design is a ‘crowd sourced’ voting competition.

The 2014 Peachtree Road Race t-shirt was created by James Balke. James is a two-time winner; his first was for the 1997 race. By the way, did you know there is even a book about the history of the Peachtree Road Race T-shirt?

Take a look at both of James’ designs.

Notice any similarities? The 1997 t-shirt includes multiple Peachtree street signs while 2014 is a detailed map of the race. Although very different styles both represent maps and direction of Atlanta. Both represent the values of the race.

4 Lessons learned From The Peachtree Road Race

1. The brand can create a framework but it is the community who builds community. The Atlanta Track Club set the rules and the course for the Peachtree Road Race.

2. Execution of similar concepts e.g. tactics can take on very different results .. and that can be a good thing. James Balke’s designs demonstrate foundational concepts can produce distinctive outcomes.

3. Tradition plays a role in setting expectations and repeat ‘buy.’ People look forward to running the race year after year often with the same friends and family.

4. Little things make a BIG difference and become a customer thank you/reward. The Peachtree Road Race T-shirt is a treasured prize for finishing the race.

07/03/2014

During my time heading social media at Cox Media Group I had the pleasure of working with some great folks.

There was a special journalist, from California Bay Area KTVU, that was an inspiration when it came to understanding the importance of social media, how to build community and the critical nature of engagement ... especially on Facebook.

Frank Somerville, main news anchor, topped 100K Facebook Likes; in fact as of this moment he has 120,059k Likes. As anyone who has built out a social network page can tell you this is no small feat.

However, as we also have come to understand, Likes without engagement are simply a bunch of numbers. Left alone Likes do not necessarily lead to significant shares, community or brand loyalty. Which makes the extent of engagement Frank has nurtured even more impressive.

How did he do it? Why did he do it? And how does it relate back to the brand? Frank tells his back-story in this video interview.

Frank's 7 Tips To Succeed In Social Media

1. Be Authentic

2. Be Honest

3. Let people see who you are behind the camera… or behind your 'business face'

4. Respond to people

5. Don't follow all the rules...take a risk. This is new stuff don’t be afraid to experiment.

6. Try to find your own way and what works for you.

7. If people like you it will carry over to your brand creating a win-win-win (for your customer, the brand and you).

And I'll add one more ... have fun! It is quite evident that Frank is having a great time. The energy carries over to his relationship with the community and back again to their involvement with Frank and with each other.

Any brand, media or not, can benefit from Frank's insights. The video is worth a click and a watch.

05/08/2014

The interweb and smart phones forever changed how we buy, what we buy, where we buy .. and who we take along on our shopping adventures.

What makes social shopping work is something so simple but at the same time it’s often a challenge for brands to achieve. The Social Share. Sounds like the next viral video dance!

One of the new ways to shop is taking your virtual entourage along. Your friends can be part of your shopping experience for seconds, a la SnapChat, or participate in in-depth discussions in Google Hangouts.

For some folks social shopping is an amazing adventure. Still don't know if it's really worth the extra money for the souped up camera? You have a way to bring friends, as the marketers might say, into the purchase decision. Girlfriend, are you in a quandary about which cute dress to buy? Through a few Snapchat photos of you modeling the potential new dresses you might justify buying them all!

If after their real time feedback you still can’t decide you can always create a Pinterest board, post on Instagram or start a Facebook or Twitter conversation. Upside: lots of opinions. Downside: lots of opinions.

If you can’t find the right ‘expert’ feedback from your family and friends, well there’s always the kindness of strangers. Odd as it seems, review sites like Yelp (www.yelp.com) influence purchase from the very important, your 27th pair of black shoes to the mundane, which dryer to buy. And then there is something in the middle .. Jelly a mobile app "knowledge search" from Twitter Founder Biz Stone. (It's my new favorite time suck.) Jelly combines your social network and your friends' network.

Retails both online and offline are launching mobile apps to complement our digial shopping experiences. Reseach from Internet Retailer indicates that in 2013 consumers on both major mobile platforms increasingly relied on mobile apps as part of the shopping process.

For others on-going opinions and reviews are a confusing maze of babble often resulting in a digital nightmare. Add to the mix input from brands and you have an over abundance of expert opinions.As Jimmy Fallon might say, “ew!”

Online and offline worlds collide in creating an important 360’ customer experience. For brands that have not built a digital community of people who will pass along reviews, photos, videos to their friends, social media is just another distribution channel. I ask you... why bother to invest resources in something that your website should accomplish?

Social Savvy Tips For Brands: It’s critical to monitor what customers and prospects are saying about their entire shopping experience from digital, in-store and of course the product. Often overlooked are hidden insights in comments on your own social platforms.

With those insights gained take action beginning with thanking your customers for sharing.

Social Savvy Tip For Customers: Before you take out the plastic to make a major purchase read reviews from multiple sources. A Twitter search on a brand may turn up some interesting insights too. So many opinions, so little time.